


Ulterior Motives

by SpaceWriter



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: All Human AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Case Fic, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Criminal AU, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gangs, How Do I Tag, M/M, My First Fanfic, Plot, Police, Red Ice (Detroit: Become Human), Slow Burn, Swearing, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, and if that aint a mood, but barely, criminal rk900, drug dealers, hand cuff stuff, he rats out his friends because of a cute guy, no android au, police and criminal relationship, really tried my best, rk900 is a drug dealer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:37:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWriter/pseuds/SpaceWriter
Summary: Tina saw his confused look and explained, “The guy we arrested. The one you shot. He’s Connors brother,”“Wait really?” Gavin never got a good look at the guy, he was more concerned with not letting him get away and not dying.Or:RK900 (Nines) is a successful drug dealer in a gang. When he is arrested he is given the choice, he can give the police information on the gang and get time off his sentence, or go spend several decades in jail. At first, he's sure he isn't going to rat out his friends... then he sees how hot the guy who shot him is, and there is a big change of plans.





	1. Unknown Motives

Gavin stood guard at one of the back exists, shifting his weight impatiently. They had spent months trying to get any kind of information about the gang that had been selling red ice throughout Detroit. Unfortunately, for a group of drug dealers, these people were very secure, and the police made little progress. A few days ago they got an anonymous tip about a big drug deal going on at some old warehouse in the middle of nowhere, they made sure the information checked out, then started planning the bust immediately. Everyone on the team was desperate to catch these guys, then move on with their lives but, of course, nothing was ever that simple. 

Things had been going smoothly at first. Police stood waiting at every exit of the building, holding their guns firm in their hands, waiting for the signal to go in. Gavin smiled as he thought about the looks on the bastards faces when they are all being handcuffed and sent to rot in jail.

The red ice dealings had been going on for years but recently the market skyrocketed, and all fingers pointed at this mysterious gang for the cause. In all his years Gavin never saw a group of criminals so organized before. Even Hank, who earned his title by catching red ice dealers, was baffled at how little clues there was to go off of. There were rumors, but no facts or proof. Some people didn’t even believe the gang existed, which led to a bunch of conspiracies about the government being responsible. While all the officers were frustrated, they couldn’t help being impressed by how little was known about such a big organization.

Gavin was snapped out of his daydream when he heard his walkie-talkie buzz to life, and the very clever signal of “Go, go, go!” to come through. He wasted no time in slamming open the door and aiming his gun. Dozens of other officers wearing black uniforms and bulletproof vests barged in as well, all of them well trained and ready. Gavin had been to a few drug busts in the past and none of the others were quite like this one. When he regained his senses he noticed that there were only two men in the center of the room. One was big and greasy but dressed in an expensive blazer, the other was a tall and slender in a black turtleneck, who had his back to Gavin. Usually, drug deals had several, all very well armed people, who were all on guard and suspicious. But everything about the scene in front of him felt so… Casual. Until they looked around and saw police surrounding them. The big man was holding a large bag and he clutched it tighter as he paled in fear. The other man looked around panicked. He patted the side of his pants, felt nothing, then sighed up at the ceiling and whispered “Shit”. His head fell back down and he slowly raised his hands in the air as a sign of surrender.

Officer Miller ordered the big man to drop the bag. He looked at it longingly before throwing it to the floor. Miller approached and went to arrest the now bagless man, things seemed to be going as planned so Gavin put his gun back in his holster. As Miller got out the handcuffs the man in the turtleneck spun on his heels and dashed to the back door, everyone paused in shock as the man shoved Gavin to the ground and ran outside. They were all still frozen for a second, or maybe everything just felt faster to Gavin, and he was fast to jump back onto his feet and follow the escapee. 

The warehouse was in the middle of an open field, so there weren’t many places for the man to run. Gavin watched as he stopped running and looked around for a second, he could hear him whisper frantically “Where’s the car? Where-” he looked over his shoulder and saw Gavin on his trail and continued running. They ran for a few seconds but that small amount of time he stopped was just enough for Gavin to catch up. Gavin grabbed the man by the shoulder and forced him to turn, he went to punch him but his arm flew uselessly through the air as the man dodged then kicked Gavin to the ground. The air escaped Gavin's lungs as his back landed on the hard dirt. He groaned in pain and opened his eyes to see the world slightly spinning. He sat up and saw the black turtleneck running further away. He got out his gun, squinted to make his vision clear up, then shot twice.

The first shot missed. After the second bullet left the gun Gavin heard a distant scream in pain, then the man fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Gavin let out a satisfied huff of laughter then fell back onto his back and waited for the others to get there while he caught his breath. 

 

\---

When they got back to the station Fowler forced him to go to the medic. Gavin knew he was okay, but he needed a doctor to tell that to everyone else apparently. He was right, he didn’t have a concussion or any serious injuries, just a few cuts and bruises that were easily taken care of and he left the medic annoyed having wasted his time. He was heading back to his desk when he heard some interesting whispers. 

“He looks just like him! I thought they were twins!” Tina Chen, one of Gavins best friends, whispered excitedly to another officer.  
“They aren’t twins?” The other asked. Gavin didn’t care for eavesdropping and knew that Tina would brighten his sour mood, so he walked up to them.  
“What are y’all talking about?” Tina smiled brightly at him, like usual. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her after the bust and he was happy to see she was okay.

The other officer chuckled, “Didn’t you see? You were the one who shot him,”  
Gavin’s eyebrows knotted. Tina saw his confused look and explained, “The guy we arrested. The one you shot. He’s Connors brother,”  
“Wait really?” Gavin never got a good look at the guy, he was more concerned with not letting him get away and not dying.  
Tina motioned towards Captain Fowler's office where they could see Connor talking to him through the glass windows, “You’ll get to see soon enough. We want to start interrogations as soon as possible. I have a bet with Cooper that Fowler isn’t going to let Connor continue the investigation,”  
The other officer, who Gavin now remembers is named Cooper, just shook his head dismissively, “Connor is very persuasive, and Captain likes him. There’s no way Fowler’s just going to send him off like that” 

They all looked over at the sound of Fowler's office door opening. Connor walked out with the most serious face Gavin had ever seen on him. Usually, he was so cheerful and energetic... Sometimes too cheerful and energetic. The other two seemed to be thrown off by Connors mood as well, as Tina shot Gavin a look and shrugged.  
“Hey, Con!” Tina yelled across the bullpen, making several people turn their heads, but they all quickly returned to their work, most being very accustomed to Chen's yelling. Connor looked up from the floor and put on a slightly forced smile when he saw her waving him over. He walked up to the group. 

“How’s it going, dipshit?” Gavin gave his standard greeting. Connor was about to respond but Tina interrupted.  
“So what did he say? Are you in?” Her and Cooper both held their breaths and practically bounced in anticipation. Gavin almost found it funny how childlike they were acting, but he knew he had little room to talk since he was infamous for throwing tantrums when he didn’t get what he wanted. He enjoyed his reputation, though, because it meant no one fucked with him unless he fucked with them first.  
Connor looked confused for a second, then seemed to understand what she was referring to. “If you are talking about the investigation then yes. Fowler and I agreed-” 

“Damnit” she dug in her pocket and handed several dollars to Cooper, who wore a shit-eating grin while Tina mumbled various complaints. Connors confusion only grew. Cooper gestured smugly for him to continue, “Go on, tell us why”  
“Yes, Nines is my brother, but we haven't spoken in several years and we aren’t close. I was able to reason with Jeffery that I will still be able to treat this like any other case,” 

“And is that true?” Gavin couldn’t help but ask “I know about brother problems and if I had to arrest my brother I would do everything in my power to get him behind bars,” Tina and Cooper chuckled at this. 

“I will treat him like I would treat any other criminal, Detective Reed. I don’t have an opinion either way,” Connor explained firmly, though, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. 

Tina patted his shoulder, “I guess we’ll see about that in the interrogation. Did Fowler say anything to you about that?”  
Gavin and Connor followed her down the hall to the interrogation room. Cooper must have lost interest after getting his money and he returned to his desk.  
“He said we are good to start... And he said I can interrogate him,” Connor continued.  
Gavin stared at the taller man in disbelief. “He’s going to let you do that? Are you sure you aren’t too close to this investigation?” 

Connors' eyes went cold, “I told you, he means nothing to me. You sound like Fowler and Hank,” He declared. Once again showing a more aggressive side than unusual. He wasn’t a pushover by any means. When he first joined the DPD a few years ago Gavin bullied and harassed him nonstop until they almost got into a fight in the archive room, and Gavin has seen him tackle, threaten and take down many criminals since he’s been on the force. Connor is a force to be reckoned with for sure, but only if you’ve broken the law. He’s never been unnecessarily harsh to people, that was more Gavin's thing. 

“Get that stick out of your ass. Our bad for worrying about you I guess,” Gavin snapped. They reached the doors to the observation room, “Have fun in there, asshole,” 

Gavin and Tina stepped into the small, dark, room. And as soon as he looked through the window showing them the other side, Gavin's jaw dropped. The man sitting in the chair on the other side of the glass looked almost identical to Connor. He would have mistaken him for Connor but there were a few differences. This man’s hair was darker, it looked like he dyed it black, and he had a few more moles than Connor. He had several scars on his neck and face and dark circles were under his eyes, Gavin assumed these were because of his career choice. But the most striking difference was his grey, blue eyes that cut right through Gavin and make him feel small, despite not being able to see him. They looked dull and bored but somehow so deep. Currently, they were half-lidded and staring off into space while he slouched in the chair, head propped up on one of his hands, the other being handcuffed to the table.

“Told you so,” Tina giggled as she elbowed him in the ribs. He was stopped his gaping as Connor walked into the room. Both Tina and Gavin perked up, excited to watch this exchange.


	2. A Change of Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Nines chat. Gavin and Nines chat. Nines makes a decision.

As soon as they saw each other the man's eyes went cold. Gavin could tell Connor was trying to remain calm, but his hand was in a fist at his side and his jaw was clenched tight. 

“Hello, Nines,” Connor feigned politeness through gritted teeth. The look-a-like gave a sarcastic smile.   
“Hey, Con. Been a while, hasn’t it? About five or so years? A phone call would have been nice,”   
Connor sat down across from his brother at the metal table.   
“Same can be said to you. Are drug dealers even allowed to have phones?” 

“Did you just come in here to insult me?” Nines shook his head disapprovingly, “How unprofessional of you, brother,”   
Connor glared daggers at his clone across the table, who only smiled viciously. 

“Alright. Can you give us the names of any other members of the gang?” Connor implored. Any trace of a smile vanished from Nines face. 

“No,” He stated factually, with little emotion but his foot began tapping in annoyance.

“What about the name of the man you were selling to at the warehouse?” 

Nines leaned back in the chair, “You arrested him. Why do you want his name?” 

“Answer the question,” Connor demanded, still with a calm voice. 

“That was my buddy, Harold. Don’t expect him to stay for too long though,” 

“You think he’s going to break out?” 

“He doesn’t need to. He’s rich, he can pay any bail. And if that doesn’t work he’s a king at bribery,” Nines smiled, which made Connor frown deeply. 

“How many people are in the gang?” Connor continued, ignoring Nines dramatic eye roll. 

There was a long moment of silence, and eventually, Connor got the gist. “Does the gang have a name? Is there one person in charge?” Nines stared at the wall blankly like he couldn’t hear the questions. The silence drug on as Nines ignored him. Connor’s frustration only grew, “How long have you been selling drugs?” 

Finally, Nines acknowledged him, “Come on, Con. You know the answer to that one,” he smirked. Connor slammed a hand down on the table, causing a loud bang that echoed in the room, but Nines didn’t flinch.   
“Look, Nines. You’ve been caught. You had your fun but now it's over. If you give us the information we want then things will be a lot easier for everyone,” 

Nines scoffed in disbelief, “For everyone? What about my friends that you want me to rat out?”   
“Your ‘friends’ are criminals,” Connor barked out.  
“And so am I. We were able to bond over that,” Nines winked. The joking tone infuriated Connor further. Silence drug on as Connor tried calming himself down with a long, slow breath.

“Could you please take this seriously? Do you realize how many people you are hurting by selling Red Ice?”  
Nines stared him down, not saying a word. They both maintained intense eye contact for a long time, like trying to will the other to speak first. 

Eventually, Connor gave in and let out an annoyed sigh. He stood up, the chair making a horrid noise as it scraped against the ground when he pushed it back. He made his way to the door and looked over his shoulder once before walking out, Nines gave a sarcastic wave with his free hand, to which Connor huffed then walked out of the room. Only to storm into the observation room a few seconds later and plop down into a chair with his arms folded. 

Tina whispered “Yikes,” and scratched the back of her neck. Gavin had to admit, he found the whole ordeal just as entertaining as he imagined it would be (sorta like watching a trashy reality tv show), yet at the same time, he felt like he intruded on some family matter that he didn’t quite understand. 

“You two should go to family counseling,” Gavin piped up after several minutes. Connor shot him a glare in response, though Gavin could tell he wasn’t really upset with him. They gave Connor a moment to settle down, then Tina said “... He seems pretty stubborn. And if he won’t talk to his own brother it’s pretty unlikely he’ll tell anyone information, right?” she looked up at Gavin for his opinion. He thought for a moment. 

“Nah. He’s stubborn because he was talking to his brother. He won’t say shit to Connor because it’s a pride thing,” Gavin offered. 

Connor’s head was resting his hand, he seemed worn out by the situation and Gavin didn’t think he was listening until he hummed and, without looking at Gavin, mumbled,   
“Hm...Maybe... Do you have a plan?” 

“Yeah, let me talk to him,” 

A laugh escaped from Tina, “Do you think he’s going to talk to the guy who shot him in the leg?”   
Crap. Gavin had forgotten about that. “...Well... I didn’t recognize him as Connors twin-” 

“Not twin,” Connor interrupted.   
Gavin looked over, confused. “  
“We aren’t twins. I am almost a year older. Ten months to be exact,”   
Tina’s eyes went wide, “Wait, what? But you two look just alike!”   
Connor shook his head, “Not really,”   
“Yeah their eyes are completely different,” Gavin interjected. They both agreed with this. 

Tina pulled them out of their spiral, “What were you saying, Gav?” 

“Well… I didn’t recognize him as Connors brother… It was sorta an adrenaline filled moment. He probably won’t remember what I looked like either,” 

Tina shrugged, “I guess it’s worth a try,” they both looked over at Connor who gave a weary thumbs up and a half smile. 

\---

When Gavin stepped into the interrogation room Nines didn’t look up at first, he seemed distracted. He was still slumped in the chair, now with one of his legs resting on the other. A strand of his black hair swooped into his face and his grey eyes were trained on the floor, narrowed in deep thought. 

Gavin cleared his throat, effectively getting his attention. Nines looked up, startled. He looked Gavin over the head to toe, then his eyes filled with a mix of suspicion and… another emotion Gavin couldn’t identify. He walked over to the table and sat down.   
“Hey there. Nines was it?” Gavin tried sounding as casual and calm as he could. He gathered by how unusual the drug deal with this guy looked, he probably wasn’t a fan of being too formal. Nines sat up and continued to look Gavin up and down suspiciously like he might attack at any moment. 

“You look familiar,” Nines decided to cut to the chase. 

“Yeah, I was at the drug bust when they arrested you. Y’probably just saw my face in the crowd. Anyway-” 

“No, no. I’m sure it’s something else. Have we met before?” Nines leaned in even closer, trying to examine the man across the table. Gavin felt his pulse quicken. For a detective, he sure was having a hard time coming up with a lie. He blamed the man’s eyes. Up close they looked more blue than anything. Too blue. It was almost disgusting how blue his eyes were. Gavin noticed he must have been staring, and decided it was time to get back on track. He let out a nervous cough. 

“We can discuss that later. Look, what can you tell me about the gang you were involved in?”   
Nines sat back and his intense gaze disappeared from Gavin's line of sight. He went to cross his arms but his left hand was still cuffed to the table, he sighed and rested his right arm on the back of the metal chair instead.   
“Why do you guys keep assuming I am in a gang? I never said that. I could have just been selling drugs by myself,” 

“Well were you?” Gavin inquired  
The suspicion filled the blue eyes again, “What are you trying to get out of me?”   
Gavin put up his hands defensively, “Just the truth. If you weren’t in a gang then we need to know,”   
There was a long moment where Nines thought this over while glaring at Gavin. Finally, he said, “No, I’m definitely in a gang. I just didn’t like you guys assuming I was without me having said it,” 

Gavin almost laughed at the honesty, and Nines seemed to catch the small smile but he chose to give a blank stare. 

“Could you tell me a bit about the gang?” Questioned Gavin. Nines eyebrows furrowed and he broke eye contact with Gavin for a split moment. A few seconds passed and he mumbled defensively, “I won’t tell you about the gang. So drop it,”

Gavin thought about the best course of action. He was getting nowhere and he knew he needed a strategy. However, he was losing his patients and he was never the best actor, so he decided on being his usual self. Which happens to be an asshole.

“That’s fine. How about we just chat instead?” Gavin offered, “What are your opinions on prison?”   
Nines looked up at him, startled by the sudden passive aggressiveness.   
“Well I… don’t regard it highly… if that’s what you mean,” He responded slowly, carefully choosing his words.   
Gavin almost laughed. The man was so well spoken yet so oddly casual, nothing about him made sense to the detective. 

“Do you think you’re little friends will break you out?” Gavin taunted. Nines looked away in thought, then shook his head no. 

“I’ll be real with you, chief. It’s not looking good for you. We have reason to believe you’ve been selling red ice for years. As someone who’s been in this business for a while, my guess would be twenty-five years minimum in prison plus, like, a giant fine. That’s if the judge is feeling incredibly generous," he lowered his voice for effect, "I’ve seen cases like this, you give us information and that will definitely help you in court. You tell us what you know and you can get years off your sentence. But if that doesn’t sound appealing to you it’s fine. I can walk out the room and you can walk into a prison for twenty-five to thirty years. No skin off my back,” Gavin rose from the chair and started towards the door.

 

He heard a heavy sigh from behind him, “Wait,”   
Gavin smiled with his back still facing Nines. He turned around slowly but didn’t move forward, “Having second thoughts?”   
Nines rolled his eyes, Gavin noted how he resembled an emo teenager in some ways. 

“Okay, let’s say I do give you some names and places,” he paused, “Theoretically,”   
Gavin nodded and walked back over, “Theoretically,” he mimicked. 

“...How much time would I get off my sentence?”   
Gavin sat back down, “I’m not a lawyer, Nines. If I had to assume, I think it would depend on what information you give us. A few street sellers might get you some years off. But, the more powerful the people, the more time you’ll get off. Hell, you might be able to cut your sentence in half if you give us one right name,” He noticed some emotion flash across Nines face that he couldn’t quite decipher. “But, hey, it’s up to you. I respect your loyalty to them. The choice is yours,” it was mostly psychological games he learned at the academy, but also a bit true. It was rare to see that kind of loyalty anywhere, let alone in a criminal ring. 

Nines sat in silence for a long time. So long, Gavin almost thought he was ignoring him like he did with Connor. He was about to give up when Nines spoke,  
“If I give you names. What’s there to protect me from the backlash. These are very powerful people and I don’t want to piss off very powerful people. If I start snitching on them and they find out they are going to come for my head,” 

“IF they find out it was you. We will keep your identity under wraps, no one will know but us. If something goes wrong where someone does find out, we are the police, we will be able to offer you security. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. If you help us out, I will do everything I can to make sure you are protected,” Gavin assured. For a moment Nines seemed touched. His features relaxed and he looked down at the table. 

He met Gavin’s eyes and raised an eyebrow “And my sentence?” 

Gavin couldn’t hold down his amusement at the blatant sass, “I will do everything I can to get you as much time off of your sentence as possible,” 

“Promise?” Nines asked playfully. And it was the first genuine smile Gavin had seen on the man's face. It was lopsided like Connors, but with more of a wrinkle under his eye and a lot more mischievous.   
Gavin smiled back, “Of course,”

Nines let out yet another sigh, “Okay then. What do you want to know?” 

Gavin snapped into investigation mode, “Did you have a particular group that worked with you? Any co-workers or suppliers?” his voice remained factual and smooth. 

There was a minute where Nines thought. Then he shot another real smile at the detective, this one brimming with mischief. 

“I think I can do you one better,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am posting this a bit early because I am going to be busy for the rest of the week. I think I am going to try and post every Wednesday or Thursday. But, uh, no promises :/   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write! I love interrogation scenes, especially with sassy-man Gavin.   
>  If you have any comments or constructive criticism, any parts that may have been hard to read or felt unnatural please let me know in the comments! I reread and edit it myself and it's hard to tell after the fourth time reading the same thing, and my friends CANNOT know I write fan fiction so they can't help.   
> But, yeah, any comments and kudos are super appreciated! I hope you continue reading. 
> 
> Have a nice day! :D 
> 
> -Star


	3. The Start of an Unusual Partnership

He wasn’t exactly jubilant about giving the information, but he wasn’t as anxious as he had previously been. In about half an hour Gavin had learned more about the crime ring in Detroit than they had learned in literal years. Nines talked about a large, gruff, middle-aged man named Ross “The Scorpion” Higgs who had been the leader for over fifteen years. 

“Higgs has gotten way too comfortable. It’s about time someone kicks him off his pedestal,” Nines had said, 

“Well,” Gavin remarked, “Getting arrested tends to do the trick,” Nines let out a chuckle. They had been talking for almost two hours. After about an hour Gavin stepped out and returned minutes later with a coffee in his hands, which, it might be against the rules to bring drinks into the interrogation room but frankly Gavin didn’t know or care. 

Both men had warmed up since the beginning of their conversation, still, it was far from being a relaxed talk about the weather. Nines was still slightly on edge. Gavin tried keeping a calm and trusting appearance, but on the inside, he was analyzing every move Nines made. He had been working for the DPD long enough to know better than to let his guard down, he watched the man in front of him carefully, paying attention to his body language and which direction his eyes flickered. He didn’t show any of the trademarked signs of lying, and for some reason Gavin found himself believing every word the man said. Gavin was a detective, he took pride in his ability to read others emotions and predict their motives. Nines seemed anxious and tired, but not deceitful. And his motives… well, Gavin still couldn’t figure that out, but he guessed he had time. 

“Is there a place we can find him? A house or a hideout?” It was Nines idea to talk about “The Scorpion”, but he seemed very unnerved by the slight mention of him. He was checking around the room and over his shoulder like Ross Higgs might burst into the room at any second.  
He lowered his voice, “Last I heard he was on vacation for two weeks,” 

“When did you hear that?”

“Around… two weeks ago,” 

Gavin rolled his eyes, “Alright then,” 

Nines sat up suddenly, “What’s today’s date?”  
Gavin made a face of confused at the sudden change in topic. Nines looked at him expectedly. 

“Uh, the tenth?” 

Nines let out a sigh but still looked concerned, “I am supposed to meet him on the thirteenth and catch him up on what happened while he was gone. If I don’t go to that meeting he will know something is wrong and you will never be able to get him,” 

Gavin thought this over for a second, “So you’re saying… the thirteenth is the perfect day to catch him?” Gavin was half-joking but Nines visibly paled. 

“I am giving you information. That’s it. I don’t have a death wish, thanks,” 

The detective frowned, “We won’t be able to catch him without you,” 

“That sure sounds like a You problem to me. Can’t you go undercover or something? If I am there and then the cops show up out of nowhere he will know that I had something to do with it,” 

“He won’t,” Gavin promised, “You’re going to have to trust us. We can make it seem like you got tricked or had nothing to do with it. You could get years off your sentence if you help us catch him,” 

Nines seemed persuaded by this, then he shook his head, “Yeah but is a couple years really worth me risking my life?” 

“It’s up to you whether you help us or not. Given your… past… you may not have a lot of reason to trust the police, but I promise you, we’ll be able to keep you safe,” 

They locked eyes, and Gavin silently prayed he sounded more convincing than he felt. After an excruciatingly long time, Nines finally broke eye contact and sighed. 

“Alright, I’ll help you. You wouldn’t be able to get close to him without me anyway. He only lets people he trusts near him,” 

Gavin let out a relieved breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. 

“Great,” He reached a hand across the table, “Partners?”  
Nines stared at his hand like it was some kind of trap. Eventually, he tentatively reached out and shook it. “Yeah, whatever,” 

 

\---

After getting the name of the place and the people that will be at the meeting, Gavin left the interrogation room that he had spent the last three hours in feeling like the king of the world. He opened the door of the observation room and as soon as Tina saw him she repeatedly bowed and sung chants of praise. Gavin sauntered in and gave a little victory dance that he learned from a game he played when he was young. 

“Who just got the leaders name?” he pointed to himself, “Who knows where he will be?” he pointed to himself and did a little spin, “Who’s about to take down a whole drug dealing possy?”  
Tina paused, “Possy? What is this the wild west?”  
Gavin continued to dance, “Shut it. Let me celebrate without your judgment,” 

Connor was still in the chair where Gavin last saw him, and he was staring into the interrogation room despite his brother not being there. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” He spoke up while still glaring at the chair where his clone once sat. 

Gavin stopped dancing, “Ugh. Can’t you two just let me have fun? For once?” He stomped further into the room “What’s the matter? Do you know something?” 

Connor shook his head, “Just a gut feeling. I know my brother and something is off,” 

“‘Know your brother’? Didn’t you say you haven't spoken in years? It sounds to me like you’re just jealous that I was able to get him to talk and you weren’t. What can I say, charm like mine is hard to come by,” Gavin couldn’t help being an ass, it wasn’t often that he beat Connor at something, and when he did he always made sure Connor KNEW. 

Connor shook his head again, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing,” 

\--- 

“Everything about this is dangerous,” Captain Fowler reminded him for the seventh time.  
Gavin stood in the captain's office, listing all the reasons his idea was great, and receiving all the reasons it was horrible. He walked over and sat at one of the chairs in front of Fowler's desk, “Yes, it’s a little risky,” 

“A little?” Fowler stared at him with his usual ‘you’re an idiot’ look.  
“Okay, very risky,” Gavin corrected himself, “But we’ve been on this case for months now, and the longer we wait, the less likely we will ever be able to catch these guys. Fowler, we know exactly where the leader of the organization we’ve been tracking down for months is going to be! We won’t get another opportunity like this,” 

“Unless it’s a trap,” The captain reminded, to which Gavin solemnly shook his head. 

“Yes, that is a possibility. But we looked up the guy Nines told us about, Ross or whatever, and he checks out. Everything seems legit, we have no reason to think Nines is betraying us,” 

Fowler tilted his head, “So we are just going to believe. He is willing to help us arrest the man he’s been working for. For years?” he put pauses in between his sentences like he always did when he got frustrated, and Gavin knew he was treading on thin ice. 

“... yes?”  
The captain let out a dramatic sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Gavin leaned forward trying to get his boss to look at him,  
“Listen, I know how it sounds,” 

“Like a suicide mission?” Fowler was beginning to raise his voice.  
Gavin put out his hands like he was trying to calm down a frightened animal,  
“Like a leap of faith,” he saw Fowler’s shoulders drop, but his facial expression stayed the same. “It may sound… unwise-,” 

Fowler let out a bitter laugh, “Good to know you’re self-aware, at least,” Gavin ignored the remark.  
“-Maybe it’s my detective instinct, but I trust him. I think he really does want to help us,” 

The captain rubbed a hand down his face, the whole conversation appeared to be stressing him out (like conversations with Gavin usually did), but this time he seemed stressed for a different reason. He sounded more worried than actually mad. 

He lowered his voice, “I have no doubt that he wants to help us, Detective Reed. My biggest concern is why is he helping us. Have you ever considered his motives? What if he is planning something?” 

“I told him that helping us would get him time off his sentence. He doesn’t want to spend decades in prison, isn’t that a reasonable enough motive?” Gavin argued, he still wasn’t sure why he was standing up for Nines. 

“Gavin, you aren’t an idiot,” Fowler began, 

“Woah, was that… a compliment? It could use some work but not bad for your first time,” Gavin was shot a harsh glare from across the table but he still chuckled at his own joke. 

There was a beat of silence before Fowler continued, “We all want to move forward on this case… So... If you really trust what this guy has to say...” 

Already Gavin was beaming “I won’t let you down, Boss. Just give me a small team, we’ll be able to use Nines and-” 

“Gavin,” Suddenly the captain's voice was deadly serious and his eyes were filled with warning, “I’m putting you in charge of this, and subsequently, in charge of Nines. You trust him so much, you will be on babysitting duty, got it?” Gavin could only nod in response. “If something happens out there… you will be held responsible,” It was Fowlers last threat before barking at him to leave his office.

Despite the immense amount of pressure, Gavin was ecstatic. He didn’t even expect Fowler to approve, let alone put him in charge of the bust, and the next day, Gavin, the team, and Nines had all sat down and discussed the plan. Nines was surprisingly calm throughout the whole thing and offered information when needed. 

“I am in Ross’s tight group, he trusts me,” Nines explained, “but he is still the leader of a very successful crime ring, he will get suspicious if anything is wrong,” 

Connor sat in the back of the room. He had insisted on being apart of the mission, and Nines complained heavily about it. Connor spoke up, “We aren’t sending him in there alone, one of us is going in with him, right?” 

“If I bring some random person with me to a highly secret and very illegal meeting Ross will know something’s up and shoot us on the spot,” Nines stated. 

Gavin quickly thought it over before the two of them could start their arguing, “Connor is right, we can’t send you in alone,” Nines glared daggers at his brother, who gave a celebratory smirk. 

Nines groaned, “Can’t you mic me? Inject me with a tracker or something? I’ve been caught, I admit my defeat, I won’t try to escape,” 

“What are you so afraid of, Nines? Do you have something to hide?” Connor accused,

“I am afraid of bullets!” He confessed, “Particularly ones aimed at my head! And that’s what's going to happen if someone comes with me. He trusts me now, but word spreads fast and he’s probably already heard about Harold getting arrested. He’s going to be on guard as it is, and if I bring some stranger…” his frightened rambling died down at the thought. All the other members of the team gave him sympathizing looks, but Connor seemed unaffected. 

“You’re right,” Gavin thought out loud, Nines relaxed slightly, “... if you bring someone they don’t know, he’s going to get suspicious. And if he has heard about the deal with Harold…” Gavin was slowly coming up with a plan, 

“He trusts you right?” Gavin suddenly asked. Nines was startled by the sudden question, “Yeah, we’ve been working together for years,” 

“Would he trust someone that you trust?” 

Nines thought it over, “... Depends,” 

“What if that someone is your brother?” Gavin smiled proudly. Nines seemed to understand and smiled back, 

“Huh,” Nines let out an impressed huff, “...I think that might work,” 

At the back of the room, Connor stood up, “Woah, wait a second! What?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am back! Not much happened this chapter because it is sort of leading up to the next one. And hopefully, the next chapter will be a lot longer since a lot is going to happen. 
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy this fic! Please tell your friends about it and feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! Thanks for 50 kudos! I was really nervous about posting this since I've never really had the courage to post anything I've written before, but everyone on here has been super nice so far and I really appreciate it! 
> 
> Since the next chapter is going to be a bit longer it may not get posted until next Thursday, but who knows we'll see. Either way, I hope you all stay to read the next chapter :D
> 
> Have a fantastic day!!!  
> -Star


	4. Actions

They had gone over the plan in great detail several times, and the bust was planned for the thirteenth. Nines had been staying in the holding cell at the DPD precinct since he was helping them out; on the eleventh Gavin and him made a very stressful trip to his house to get some clothes for him to wear to the bust. The whole time Gavin threatened to shoot him if he tried anything. They retrieved the clothes with no fatal injuries and returned to the precinct. The next day went by with a buzz of excited nervousness in the air, everyone mentally preparing themselves for the next morning. At the end of the day Gavin, Connor, and Nines spent a few hours going over the story they planned on telling Higgs. 

 

“Okay let’s go over it one more time,” Gavin directed, “Let’s pretend I’m Higgs, what are you going to tell me?” 

 

Nines put a hand over his chest pretending to be offended and gasped, “Detective, what kind of amateur do you think I am? If we are really going to be doing improv then I must get into character first,” 

 

Gavin rolled his eyes, “The character is _YOU_. This isn’t an improv class, we are going over the lie you will be telling your boss so we can arrest him,” 

 

“How am I supposed to do anything when you have that attitude? I take acting very seriously,” Insisted Nines. 

 

Gavin could tell he was just trying to annoy him and he was determined not to let him win, “Alright, do what you have to do to ‘get in character’” 

 

Nines made various odd noises for a few seconds then took a deep breath and lowered his head, “Action,” 

 

“Hello, Nines, nice to have you back,” 

 

The man inhaled like he was going to respond, paused, and said, “First of all, Higgs would never say that,” 

 

Gavin couldn’t hold his anger, “Nines!” He scolded 

 

“Alright, alright. Hello, Higgs. Good to be back,” then he mumbled under his breath, “Even though you are acting completely out of character,” 

 

Gavin ignored the last bit, “Who is this with you?” he motioned to Connor, who was watching intently from the corner of the room. He opened his mouth to respond but Nines interrupted, 

 

“This is my brother. Some police came to arrest me and Harold, my dear brother here helped me escape,”

Connor spoke up, “Sadly, I was not able to get there in time before Harold was arrested and Nines was shot in the leg,” he stated the rehearsed line just like he had the previous times. 

 

Nines let out a dramatic sigh and slumped in the chair, “Do we _have_  to bring up the leg thing? Is it really necessary?” 

 

“You don’t get much of a say here,” Connor snapped 

 

“I think I should since you wouldn’t be able to find Higgs if it weren’t for me,” Nines shot back. The two glared at each other for several minutes before Gavin grew tired of it. 

 

“If you want to you can bring up the leg thing only if he asks. Let's try again,” 

 

Nines tore his eyes away from his brother to look at Gavin excitedly, “Ooh, this time can I be Higgs?” 

“Why would you be Higgs? That’s not what we are trying-” Connor questioned before Nines continued speaking, this time with a raspy, Italian voice. 

 

“Hello, Nines, so you have come with a guest?” He sat with his fingers laced, staring up at Gavin. Gavin sighed, “Higgs, this is my brother, Connor. He helped me escape when the police arrested Harold,”

 

Nines sat back with his hands still in his lap, “That I can’t do. I can’t remember the last time you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee. Even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let’s be frank here, you never wanted my friendship,” 

 

Gavin furrowed his eyebrows, “What the fuck are you talking about,” 

 

“No,” Nines continued, ignoring Gavin completely, “You were afraid to be in my debt,” 

 

Gavin glanced across the room, wordlessly asking Connor for a translation. Connor made a face of exasperation and spoke in an Italian accent, 

“I didn’t want to get into trouble,” 

 

Nines looked over, breaking character to smile at his brother for, as far as Gavin knew, the first time in many years. Connor stared at the ground and let out a small laugh. 

 

Gavin looked between the two of them. Finally, Connor explained, “It’s from the Godfather,” 

 

“Yeah, I gathered that,” Gavin sassed, “Why?”

 

“It was my favorite movie growing up. I used to know the words by heart,” Nines admitted 

 

Connor added “And since there was only one TV in the house and it was the only movie we had, I was forced to watch it too,” 

 

“Come on, I know you love that movie, it’s a classic!” Nines watched his brother shake his head in denial as he tried to hide his laughter. 

 

Gavin wanted to be annoyed, but it was pretty nice seeing them get along for once. He chuckled then stood up, “Just don’t fuck up tomorrow. There is a lot riding on this,” He reminded Nines, “I’m done for the day so I’m gonna head out. Con, could you make sure he gets back in the cell?” He asked while grabbing his jacket and heading to the door. 

 

Connors laughter died down a bit, “Yeah, sure. Have a nice night, Reed,” 

The detective waved behind him, “Heh, whatever,” and walked out the door. 

  
  


A dreadful silence fell across the two of them. Connor shifted uncomfortably, Nines tried seeming unbothered but Connor knew him well and could see that he was clenching his jaw. 

     Connor stood up, “I think that’s all, you ready to go back?” 

 

Nines let out a bitter laugh, “Do I have a choice?” 

 

      “Not really,”

 

Nines got up and followed his look-alike out the door and down the hall to the holding cells. Once he was in and Connor locked the door, he sat on his uncomfortable bed and called out, “Bye, nerd,” 

 

Unfortunately for Nines, Connor didn’t leave. “Actually, I was hoping we could talk first,” 

 

Nines groaned, “Do I have a choice?” He repeated

Connor laughed sadly and crossed his arms, “Not really,” 

 

Nines turned to face him through the glass, “This isn't fair and you know it,” 

 

“It isn’t fair because this time you can’t run away when I want to have a serious conversation?” Connor accused.

 

“Exactly!” 

Connor chuckled. As painful as the last few days had been, he knew there was a part of him that missed his brother. 

 

“Nines, we have to talk at some point and I’d rather do it now than before we have to go arrest your boss,” 

 

“You always do this!” Nines exclaimed, “You always try to force me to talk about my feelings! Well, guess what, bro? It’s not going to work! I’ve built up emotional walls for a reason. You can’t make me talk,” 

 

Connor chuckled at his brother's theatrics, “Actually, I can. I’m an officer of the law,” 

 

Nines gaped, “Doesn’t this count as cruel and unusual punishment?” 

 

“The law has exceptions for brothers. Now can we stop joking around and talk?” 

 

Another groan was heard from Nines as he mumbled various complaints, “Fine, what do you want?”

 

There was a pause as Connor thought of what it was that he wanted. The silence drug on as neither looked at each other. Connors' eyes darted nervously around the area and Nines was intently studying the floor. 

 

Eventually, Nines felt his brothers gaze land on him, and he heard his dumb voice at his side. 

 

“How… are you feeling?” 

 

“God you’re annoying,” Nines whispered, to which Connor looked hurt. Doing his stupid puppy dog face that could make Satan feel guilty. “Sorry, sorry…. I’m just peachy. How are you?” 

 

Connor forced a smile, “I’ve been better…” 

 

There was an awkward pause. 

“Did you really come here to talk about the weather when I could be sleeping?” Nines snarled.

 

Connor sputtered, “N-no… Nines, listen,” 

 

“I’m listening,” 

 

Connors' face turned red, “God, would you stop being so childish?” 

Nines responded by sticking out his tongue. He knew he was treading on thin ice, but he enjoyed making Connor lose his shit. It was something he was quite talented at. 

 

He heard Connor take a deep breath. 

 

“Nines,” he began, “I just want to know why,”

Nines felt a wave of defensiveness come over him. 

“I could ask you the same thing, dickhead,” 

He glared up angrily at his brother, who only looked deeply troubled. 

 

“I’ll tell you if you tell me,” Connor offered, “Deal?” 

 

Nines thought about it, “Frankly, I don’t care that much about why you did what you did. You always were a loser,” Connor gave him the same sad look and he instantly felt guilty. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it… Well, I did mean it. But it’s not true,” They looked at each other for a second and Nines wanted nothing more than to run away. He laughed. That sort of was the problem. He always wanted to run away whenever anything got serious. 

 

“... I had no choice,” He reluctantly answered and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

 

“Of course you had a choice, Nines. You chose to sell drugs, you chose to work with Higgs. I want the real reason,” 

 

Nines ran his hand through his hair, “Con, listen to me. If I could have changed things I would have,” 

 

“Then why didn’t you?” 

 

Nines stood from the bed to face his brother, “Don’t act like it was some easy decision! I didn’t want to be doing that shit! But Dad died and I didn’t have a choice!” 

 

Connor froze. “What-... What about dad?” 

 

Nines signed. “Before he died. He made me promise that I would… take his place, if something were to happen to him,”

 

Connor fumed, “What the hell? Why would he make you promise that? Why-” 

 

“And you weren’t there to help. I couldn’t just run off like you did. Unlike you, I care about my family,” 

 

“You can hardly call that man ‘family’, Nines,” 

 

“Well, I do!” He yelled, “I… did…” 

 

They both paused for a long time, letting the words sink in. 

 

“When he died Higgs gave me a job. I started on the streets like the others but it pissed me off so I went up to him and I said ‘I am Weasley's son’. He laughed, then made me his right-hand man. He was there for me during a hard time,” 

 

“And you’re going to turn him in?” Connor seemed genuinely confused. 

 

“That was years ago. And since then, he’s annoyed me more than helped me. Everyone is getting sick of him bossing us around, most will be glad when he’s gone. The others… will want me dead,” 

 

Connor took a second to process it all. “So you’re going to get him arrested… because he annoyed you?” 

 

“Why do you care so much?” Nines hissed,

 

“It just doesn’t seem like you. You claim to be all about ‘loyalty’ when it comes to dad but your willing to rat this guy out?” 

 

“This is different. Higgs isn’t family, and I don’t want to spend eternity in prison,” 

Connor gave him an accusing look. Nines rolled his eyes, 

“And that detective guy is pretty cute,” he mumbled as quiet as possible, hoping it wasn’t audible at all. Connor heard it of course. 

 

“There it is,” 

 

“Don’t judge me alright. Being caught in the first place wasn’t really intentional. And hot cop dude definitely wasn’t apart of the plan. I was sure I wasn’t going to give you guys any information until dumb Garrett Reed or whatever had to walk in with his dumb face,” 

 

Connor laughed, “It’s Gavin Reed. And I’m not judging, this just seems more like you,” 

 

Nines glared, “Alright, smartass, your turn. Why a cop? Some sort of statement?” 

 

All signs of humor left Connor and the air around them went back to being stone cold. 

 

“It wasn’t a statement. I wanted to join the DPD because… of me. It was something I am passionate about. I am allowed to just do things for myself. Not everything in our lives has to be about him you know?” Connor replied though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. 

 

Nines rolled his eyes, “Yeah. Right. Because you just so happened to be  _ passionate  _ about locking up criminals like-” 

 

“I told you it wasn’t about him! I am a cop because I want to be! He had nothing to do with it,” Connor barked, 

 

“Yeah, like the son of a drug dealer becoming a cop is a coincidence!” 

 

There was an excruciatingly long silence. Nines could see his brothers eyes glass over, and he swallowed the lump in his own throat.  

 

“Please,” Connor whispered after a long while, not looking up at Nines, “Don’t tell anyone about dad,” 

 

“I won’t. Wouldn’t want to tarnish your perfect reputation,” Nines spat out bitterly. 

 

Connor opened and closed his mouth several times, like debating on what he wanted to say. 

 

He eventually settled on, “Nines… I’m sorry. For everything. You are my brother and I care about you,” 

 

Nines eyes remained glued to the floor. 

 

Connor sighed sadly, “Goodnight. See you tomorrow,” and he walked away, out of the precinct, leaving Nines alone with his thoughts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYO   
> I'm a day late whoops! I hope no one was scared that I gave up or something (though I considered it a LOT). I ended up splitting this chapter into two, the next one they will be meeting Higgs. I just wanted some dialogue in here so you could really get to know more about the characters and their past. I tried really hard to keep them as in character as possible, but because the plot affects them they are bound to be a tad different. I really hope it doesn't come off too awkward to read through, and I had a lot of fun writing it... so...   
>  The next chapter will be a bit more action heavy and some neato things will be revealed! Oooh! Actual plot?! What!? No way!   
>  haha anyway, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter and stay to read the next. Please tell your friends and feel free to leave Kudos/comments. 
> 
> Have a wonderful day!!!!   
>  -Star


	5. Consequences (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for language and mild violence!

The next day everyone was up ridiculously early considering the meeting with Higgs wasn’t until two. They spent the first hours of the day getting everything and everyone ready to go. Everyone seemed to be a bit on edge, especially Gavin. 

Nines didn’t appear too nervous at all. He didn’t like everyone running around telling him he had to wear a bulletproof vest under his black turtleneck, but besides from that, he seemed pretty unphased. 

A few hours before two Gavin, Nines, and Connor got into a police car and headed off, with a van of other officers following behind them. On the way they went over the plan one more time, Gavin explained how Connor will have a mic that will allow the team waiting in the van to hear everything, and that when Connor gives the signal they will come in and arrest everyone in the building. Nines nodded silently, pretending to listen, and stared out the window. 

After that, the car ride was silent. The criminal leader known as Ross Higgs lived about an hour away and the soft hum of Gavin’s old rock music wasn't enough to cover up how uncomfortable the air felt. Connor hadn’t looked Nines in the eyes at all since the night before and Nines pretended like Connor wasn’t there at all. Once they got a few miles away they pulled over on the side of the road and met inside of the van. 

Nines stepped out, his hands were cuffed in front of him, “Why are we stopped here? His house is a couple miles down the road,” 

The two doors in the back of the van were open, the walls were lined with computers and equipment. Gavin laughed while he fiddled with a small mic, attaching it to the inside of Connors collar, “Yeah, that’s kinda the point. If you pull up at his door with a police escort it kinda defeats the whole purpose,” 

Nines felt his face heat up and he let out a huff. It took about thirty minutes to get everything set up, they took the handcuffs off Nines and went over the plan one more time for good measure. 

“So how are we getting to Higg’s house?” Nines finally asked his burning question. Everyone laughed and he didn’t understand why. Gavin saw the confused look on his face and laughed some more,   
“You’re going to use your feet. And fucking walk,” 

Nines eyes widened, “Walk? It’s a million degrees out there! And we’re miles from his house!” 

“You’re the idiot who wore a black turtleneck,” Gavin retorted, to which all the officers laughed. Nines face heated up even more. 

Connor had seemed pretty serious the whole time, rarely talking and never looking Nines in the face. He spoke up, “Come on, we better start heading that way now if we want to make it in time,”

 

\---

The walk was hot, long and excruciatingly awkward. Connor marched the whole way barely breaking a sweat, while Nines lagged behind him complaining and limping on the hurt leg the whole time. It had only been a week since he had been shot and it was surprising he could walk on it at all. 

After what felt like ages, a large and elegant house became visible from the distance and Connor spoke into his collar, “The house is in our sight,” 

A few more minutes passed and they walked up the brick stairs to the double doors. Before knocking Nines turned and looked at his brother, “Okay, don’t speak unless spoken to got it? They don’t know you and they won’t trust you for shit. These people are deadly and if they suspect you for anything they might shoot you on the spot. Stay behind me, make eye contact, keep your hands visible, got it?” 

Connor’s brown eyes were icy cold, “You don’t give me orders,” 

“Actually, Con-con, I do. I’ve played by your rules the past week but now we’re on my turf. I know what I am doing here, you don’t. You don’t have to listen to me if you are going to be stubborn about it, but these are the best in the business, the most dangerous people in Detroit. If you don’t listen to me, you WILL die,” 

Connor maintained the heavy stare for a few more seconds until his eyes finally dropped, “...Fine,”   
Nines didn’t have his usual energy to be proud of winning an argument, instead, he took a breath and rung the doorbell. 

 

There was shouting from inside then the doors swung open to reveal a short and scraggy woman. 

“NINES!!” She squealed and launched forward to wrap her arms around the much taller man.   
Nines took a step back maintain his balance, he smiled and patted the small girl on the back, “Hey, Camille,”

She squeezed him then backed up and looked over to Connor, “Woah… am I still drunk… or are there two of you?” 

Nines chuckled, “Sort of. Can I come in?” she stepped out from the doorway and motioned for them to enter, the whole time her wide eyes never left Connor. She shut the door behind them. 

“What do you mean STILL drunk? You party last night without me?” Nines made light conversation with her. She had dark skin and black, kinky hair in two small space buns. She was wearing a pink hoodie and short shorts, and Connor noticed she was barefoot. She blinked and finally tore her eyes away from Connor. Her face lit up when she looked over at Nines. 

“Well, I would have invited you, jerk, but you’ve been off the radar for like a week. You didn’t even respond to the memes I texted you!” 

Nines laughed. They walked down a long hallway, Nines tried to cover up his limp. They passed by a few rooms that they could see into, and they all had the same aesthetic. Extravagant, but messy. Furniture that cost more than Connor had ever had in his life was littered throughout the house. There was a complete dining table in the hallway that they had to scoot around. Lamps sat plugged in on the floor. Pillows, blankets, and paintings were sometimes on the floor and sometimes on the wall. The house looked like what Connor imagined the day after a party from the Great Gatsby must have looked like, except never cleaned. Like there had been many parties and they never bothered cleaning up before throwing another one. 

“Sorry, I broke my phone. I had to lay low after what happened to Harold...” 

“Oh, I completely forgot about Harold! I heard some rumors that something went down during the deal but I didn’t think they were true! What happened?” She interjected excitedly. 

“That’s what I was planning on telling you all today,” They stopped outside of a closed door. “... How was the trip?” Nines asked in a hushed voice. 

“Not great. They don’t think she has much time,” She whispered back, 

“Yikes. How did he take it?” 

“Surprisingly well. He only killed two of the doctors this time!” 

Nines let out a sigh of relief, “Wow, that’s such a big improvement since last time. Do you think he’s starting to come to terms with it?” 

She smiled up at him, “I hope so!” 

Nines practically glowed with pride. He looked over his shoulder, “Come on, Con. Time to meet my boss,” he turned the know and began opening the door. The short girl quickly spoke up, 

“Oh wait there's one more thing you should know-” 

But it was too late, the door swung open and they walked in. It looked like a combination of an office and living room. There was a bookshelf on every wall, a young man sat on a bean bag chair in one of the corners looking through some comic books. There was a couch that was flipped over to their left, and a few tables covered in papers and documents. Some luggage and bags with clothes spilling out were thrown about the floor. 

A large window with the sun shining through was on the back wall facing them. A desk was in front of the window, and standing behind the desk was the silhouette of a tall man.   
His cool voice called out, “Nines, son. Is that you? I thought you were dead,” 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Nines chuckled. 

The man walked out from behind the desk. Connor let his eyes adjust. The man was probably in his fifties. He was tall and skinny and very pale. He wore suit pants and dress shoes that looked quite fancy. However, to Connors horror, he was wearing an expensive blazer over a colorful and tacky Hawaiian shirt. His hair was short and completely gray, and he had stubble along his sharp jawline. Bags were under his eyes along with other lines from stress. 

His cold green eyes met Connor. “Oh, hello there. Nines you didn’t tell me we had a guest! I would have cleaned up if I knew we were going to have company,” 

The woman behind them snorted, “No you wouldn’t have,” 

He sighed, “Yeah, you're probably right,” 

The man who had previously been sitting in a bean bag chair laughed. At some point, he had stood up and moved to stand a little ways away from the man in the Hawaiian shirt. 

Nines gestured to Connor, “Guys, this is my brother, Connor. Connor this is Camille, Ross, and the little nerd over there is Jamie,” 

Jamie crossed his arms, “I am not a nerd... And are we really okay with this? I mean, he just casually brought his brother to our secret headquarters,” 

The gray-haired man who Nines referred to as Ross (though Connor knew him as Higgs) leaned back on a different table. “How many times have I asked you to stop calling it that? This isn’t one of your comic books. Plus, this is in no way our ‘secret headquarters’. I always try to keep business life separate from personal life. This is my home and you are all welcome to bring anyone you’d like.

“You hear that Jamie, I think he’s trying to drop the hint that it’s time you introduce him to your little boyfriend,” 

“Jared is not my boyfriend,” he said matter of factly as he headed back to the bean bag chair to grab his comic and then continued to read it standing, “...yet,” 

They heard some muffled noise coming from the other side of the room. Nines and Connor looked over in sync to see an injured man tied up in a chair and being gagged with a tight cloth. 

Connor was horrified. It took everything in him to fight his cop instinct of going and helping the poor man. 

“Who’s that?” Nines asked nonchalantly. 

Higgs walked across the room, stepping over piles of books and clothes, to stand beside the captive man. “This is Dr. Aulmer. Though, I just call him Dave. Say hi Dave,” The man in the chair tried his best to scream, his eyes were wild and frantic and blood and sweat covered his face. 

Camille looked guiltily over at Nines, “I tried warning you. He only killed two people this time… but he did take a hostage…” 

“Ross!” Nines scolded, “What happened to ‘seperating personal life and work life’?”

“This has nothing to do with work. This is just a nice friendly deal. His friends in Puerto Rico find a cure for Corn in two weeks and he lives. If not… well…” he smiled a vicious grin, prompting the man to scream and struggle some more. 

Nines leaned over and whispered in Connors' ear, “Corn in his wife… She has cancer… Her actual name is Corrine,” 

Connor stared at his brother in disbelief, “What the fuck,” 

“I know right. What a weird nickname! Corn! The food! Even Corey would have been better than that. I think it’s a childhood name or something, still, it’s weird as shit,” 

“That is the least of my concerns right now!” Connor scream whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Once again a day late because! I ! Procrastinate!   
> Okay so haha funny story, this chapter was like 13 pages on my doc and I didn't have time to go and edit all 13 pages tonight, so I edited this bit and split the chapter up. Because of this, I will probably post again on either Monday or Tuesday for part two of this chapter.   
> The next chapter is going to have a LOT of stuff go down. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope the characters were enjoyable. I plan on adding more DBH human characters later on but for now, I just made these characters for plot purposes. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic I would really appreciate any kudos/comments. Thank you so much for reading and telling me what you think, you have all been so kind so far and it's made me so happy that I decided to finally post some of my writing. 
> 
> See you next week! :D  
>  -Star


	6. Consequences (Part Two)

Ross stopped tormenting the doctor and walked back over to the group.   
“Come on, Nines, let’s catch up. I feel like we haven't talked in ages! And I’m just DYING to meet your twin,”

Connor hated his choice of words.   
Camille flipped over a small sofa and drug it to the center of the room, Ross sat on his desk. Connor and Nines sat on the sofa and Camille plopped down on the floor. 

“We aren’t twins-” Connor quietly mentioned. Nines spoke up loudly, getting an idea. 

“That’s right! We aren’t twins. I am a whole year older than him,” 

Connor looked over at him in confusion, “What?” 

Camille looked up at them from the floor, “Really? You two look just alike,” 

“Yeah, and I never would have taken NINES as an older brother,” Jamie commented from behind his comic. They all laughed except Nines.

“Well, it’s true! People always assume we are twins but we have to correct them, it’s pretty funny. People have such a hard time believing that this rascal is really my BABY bro,” He leaned over and ruffled Connor’s hair. Connor gave him a glare that easily conveyed the sentiment of ‘touch me again and I’ll break your spine’. Immediately understanding the silent threat Nines pulled his hand away and laughed nervously. 

Ross smiled warmly, “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Connor. I have heard much about you, though Nines never talked about you much,” 

Connor looked at him confused, “Wh- Then how did you-” 

“Weasley was a good friend of mine,” His eyes filled with sadness as he looked at the ground, “I’m sorry about what happened to him,” 

Both Connor and Nines were instantly uncomfortable. Connor looked at Nines, pleading for help. He was miced and the other officers could hear everything, if they talked about their dad then everyone on the DPD would know. Nines caught the gist and immediately worked to change the subject. 

“So how was Puerto Rico?” He directed the question to Ross and Camille. 

“Well, besides the fact that the love of my life is dying and there’s nothing those idiots can do about it… pretty good,” Ross’s voice went from furious to casual in a matter of seconds, it gave Connor whiplash. 

Camille gleamed, “We went to the beach! The resort we stayed at had a jacuzzi! It was awesome!” she looked over at Ross, “Besides the wife dying part… that part was not awesome,” 

Ross gave her a forgiving smile. Connor was amazed at how the same man who was threatening to kill a hostage a few minutes ago could be so warm and kind now. 

“So, Connor,” Ross said suddenly, starling Connor from his thoughts, “Tell me about yourself,” 

He looked over at Nines nervously. They hadn’t prepared for this. Connor didn’t have a premade backstory for himself, and he couldn’t just tell him he was a cop. He thought for a second, trying not to panic. Then his detective instincts and ability to come up with lies kicked in. “Well, I was an accountant for four years. Recently I decided I would uh…” he gulped, “Take up the family business,” 

Nines looked over at him with wide eyes, Connor shrugged. The other officers would find out about their dad eventually, and if he tried tiptoeing around the subject he would come off as suspicious. Nines seemed appreciative, and Connor hoped that he was vague enough for the officers not to notice what he had implied. 

“He helped me during the fiasco with Harold,” Nines added, hoping it would succeed in changing the subject. 

Ross’s face grew solemn. “Ah, yes. I am glad to see you are okay. Do you mind talking about what happened?”

Nines sighed. “To make a long story short, the police showed up,” 

Jamie put down his comic, “The police?!” 

“Yeah, I don’t know how the fuck they knew where we were. I had just handed him the stuff when they barged in. I followed orders for a few seconds then made a run for it. I was able to make it to the car and I drove away for a while until the gas ran out. I knew the cops weren’t far behind so I called Connor. Let me stress the fact that it was ONLY because I had no other options,” Connor rolled his eyes, “He was nearby and gave me a ride to safety. I wouldn’t have been able to make it out if it weren’t for him so… I brought him to meet you guys,” 

“So why are you limping?” Camille asked, 

“Shit, you noticed that?” 

Camille snorted, “Of course I noticed, dumby. I take pride in being the brains of this group,” 

Nines humored her, “Yeah, sure… I was shot in the leg by some asshole cop before I could make it to the car. Connor helped me patch up my leg,” 

“Wow, brother goals,” Camille giggled. Nines stuck out his tongue at her. 

“Alright, Nines, now we need to talk business,” Ross’s serious voice made the two of them snap their heads to look at him. Sensing where this was going, Connor reached in his pocket and pressed the button on his device to let the others know to start heading their way. 

Nines sat up straight, “Of course,” 

“Did the police take the bag?” Ross questioned. 

“Yes. I had already handed it to Harold when they arrived. There was no way I could get it back,”

“And they arrested Harold?” 

“Yes,” 

Ross thought for a second, “... Did they see your face?” 

“I’m not sure,” Nines responded quickly. 

Ross’s eyes narrowed, “You said you obeyed for a minute or two before running. They must have seen you,” 

“Yeah, I guess so. Is that really important?” Nines was getting impatient. 

Camille rubbed the back of her neck, “Nines if they know your face they might be able to recognize you. You won’t be able to sell anymore,” She looked up at him sadly. 

Something flashed across Nine’s eyes but he shook it off. “Whatever. I’m more worried about the bag. Should we contact Daniel? What if they can trace it back to him?” 

“He makes a good point,” Jamie put down his comic book completely, “If Daniel gets busted we all go out of business,” 

Higgs' eyes remained glued to Nines, “Did you get the money from Harold?” 

“I… went to get it but the cops showed up. I ditched it when trying to escape… I’m sorry,” Nines apologized sincerely. Higgs' face didn’t change in the slightest. 

“It’s alright, I care more about your safety than anything,” He said the kind words through cold, calculating eyes. He was suspicious and Connor could tell. They needed to get him to talk about the drugs or else all of it would have been for nothing. He nudged Nines with his arm to remind him, and he seemed to get the gist. 

“Still, I made you lose money. What are we going to do?” 

“Losing money is apart of business, Nines. It always happens,” Ross stated emotionlessly. 

 

“Yeah but this is going to be a big setback,” Camille seemed to be doing calculations in her head, “I mean, we could always raise the prices,” 

Nines scoffed, “If we do that Daniel is going to double the prices for us. You two may be friends but you know how he is,” 

“We’re freaking drug dealers! He has to be at least a little understanding when cops are involved! Maybe we can try appealing to his sympathy,” 

Nines eyes grew sad but he tried his best to hide it, he shook his head “No, the cops are involved which will make him be cautious. We’re going to have to convince him to even continue working with us,” 

“In his line of business, I am sure he has had a lot of police run-ins,” Camille contested. 

Jamie piped up, “He’s been working with us for years. He won’t quit now just because of one little mess up,” 

“He’s been working with us for years because we’ve never had incidents like this before. We take pride in being clean and this was just downright sloppy,” Nines attested, “Yeah we’ve had minor arrests now and then but those were all street pawns. This is the first big loss we’ve had in years and it’s bound to tarnish our reputation,” 

Ross stood up slowly and let out a deep sigh, “And who do you mean by ‘we’?” He walked around behind his desk. Nines brows furrowed. 

“I mean us. The group,” 

“And who is in charge of the group, Nines?” Ross was only a silhouette standing in front of the window, his black outline was tall and threatening. 

“...You,” Nines voice was low but audible. Ross grabbed something from a drawer in his desk and walked back to where everyone was sitting. 

“Correct. You forget that sometimes don’t you?” Ross lifted his arm up revealing the gun in his hand, pointed at Nines. 

Nines and Connor both stood up from the couch in unison. To Connors horror, Nines took a step forward. “Put that down, Ross. I am your friend,” but his voice was anything but friendly. 

“Friends don’t bring cops into other friends houses,” Ross pointed the gun at Connor. 

Camille jumped up, knocking over a table, “He’s a cop?” She ran to stand behind the gray-haired man. In a blink, Connor pulled his own gun out from his jacket and pointed it at Ross.   
Nines stepped between the two of them, “Both of you put those away! Ross,” he turned to his boss, “You know how I feel about those,” Nines gestured to the gun. 

“And YOU know how I feel about those,” Ross gestured to Connor. Connor held his gun with one hand, the other was in his pocket repeatedly pressing the button, letting the other cops know there was an emergency. 

Nines held his hands out in both directions like he was trying to calm down two wild animals. “Please, we can settle this peacefully,” 

Camille looked up at him with a face of betrayal, while Ross looked at him like some disgusting dead creature. 

“See that’s your problem, Nines. You always want to settle things peacefully. You can’t peacefully run a criminal organization. Do you know how disappointed your fa-” 

Right then there was a loud banging from down the hall and some shouting. Ross whispered, “Shit” then grabbed Jamie and pushed him towards another door at the back of the room. He tried doing the same to Camille but she stood firmly in place. 

“Camille, go!” He tried pushing her again but she pushed him right back.   
“I’m not going anywhere asshole,” They didn’t have time to argue anymore, the door to the hallway was kicked down and several heavily armed police officers barged in, with Gavin Reed at the front.

Connor let out a relieved sigh and continued to point his gun at Ross.   
Gavin yelled, “Nobody move!” and pulled out a gun of his own. 

“Fuck you!” Ross yelled then shot blindly at the officers twice. He grabbed Camille and hid behind a flipped table. A few officers shot back at the table, Camille could be heard screaming from behind as bullets broke through the wood. She grabbed a book and threw it at the officers. After a second Ross peeped up from the table and shot some more. It was as he was looking over the table that a single shot rang out louder than the rest. He let out a scream and grabbed his shoulder, dropping his gun. He fell back on the floor howling in distress. 

Camille stood up, “Okay! We surrender! Please stop! We surrender,” The shooting stopped, she continued whispering “We surrender” a few more times to herself, her face now completely wet with tears. 

Gavin slowly walked over and grabbed Ross’s gun from the floor. “Good choice, kid,”   
The officers dashed over and handcuffed her, while some of the others attended to Ross’s gunshot wound on his arm and made sure he was okay, and a few went over to untie the hostage in the corner and make sure he was okay. 

Connor lowered his gun and let out a deep sigh. He went to say a thank you to his brother but when he looked to his side there was no one there. His heart sank into his stomach. 

“Nines?” He called out. Gavin looked over and noticed the panic in his eyes. He was confused for a moment, then he noticed the absence of one particular criminal. 

“Oh, fucking shit. Where is he?” 

Connor yelled at some idle officers to search the house for him and they split up, running in different directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! Some Plot stuff yay! The next chapter will probably be here for Friday. 
> 
> Thank you guys so so much for 100 kudos! Thank you all who have commented and shared it with your friends it means a lot to me. I really hope you enjoy the next few chapters! I promise some Reed900 stuff is coming very soon!
> 
> Have a lovely week everyone! :D   
>  -Star


	7. Significance

As soon as Ross began shooting Nines knew it was his moment. They had all been so distracted they didn’t notice him sneak off to the door that Jamie ran out of. 

He had spent so many years in this house he knew the layout like the back of his hand, and he knew exactly where Jamie would be hiding. He went upstairs to Jamie’s room where he found the teen curled up in the corner sobbing. 

Jamie’s head snapped up when he heard the door open, his eyes frantic and terrified. His shoulders dropped when he saw it was Nines: then he seemed to remember why everything had happened in the first place and went back to looking terrified, backing up closer to the wall like Nines might attack him. 

Nines closed the door behind him, “Calm down, no one knows you're here. I need you to deliver a message,” 

Jamie stood up and rubbed his red eyes, “Why the hell would I do anything for you?” 

“Well, I could yell and tell them you’re here. Then you’ll get arrested. How does being in jail at the age of seventeen sound to you?” 

The teen ran his fingers through his curly black hair “Alright, fine. But I want to know why. Why are you doing this?” 

“We don’t have much time...but I guess you deserve to know,” Jamie looked up at him with sad eyes, “Don’t look at me like that. It… wasn’t planned, alright. I got caught with Harold and they told me that if I helped them find you guys I wouldn’t go to jail,” 

“Since when is ratting out your friends a get out of jail free card?” Jamie spat out, hatred filling his words. 

“Listen here, you little shit, I have a plan okay. Ross is going to jail. And when he does all those clueless idiots are going to be running around like headless chickens. Someone is going to need to take over,” He smiled down at the boy. 

“No fucking way. I don’t want to do it,” 

Nines tilted his head, “What? No of course not you. I’m talking about me,” 

“Oh… Yeah, that makes sense,” 

“I’ve practically been in charge for years. Ross can’t keep his house clean let alone organize a secret group of criminals. I’ve been doing all the work while he goes off and worries about his dying wife. I was supposed to be in charge anyway! My father wasn’t just some regular drug dealer. Do you remember who was the leader before Ross?” Jamie shook his head, “It was Weasley, my father! I was supposed to take his place, I promised him! But Ross beat me to it and has been acting like we’re buddy-buddy ever since,” 

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Jamie asked quietly, “Since, you know, it is MY DAD that you are sending away to rot in jail,” 

Nines heart sunk in his chest. He always forgot that Jamie was Ross’s son. He never called him dad, and if anything Ross treated Camille more like a child than Jamie. He knew what it was like to have a father who was a criminal and he suddenly felt bad for how he had been treating the kid. 

“Yeah of course. What do you want to do,” 

Jamie seemed surprised like he didn’t expect that to work. “...If Ross is in jail that means he can’t sell drugs anymore, and he can’t visit mom anymore… Maybe… Do you think maybe he’ll change?” 

“Maybe, kid, I don’t know. If he has some time to think about it then he might come to terms with things,” 

Jamie thought it over, “Alright, then I’ll help you. What do you need me to do?” 

Nines smiled, then dug in his coat for the envelope.   
“Find Daniel and give this to him. Tell him that everything is under control and if he does what this letter says then he will be safe,” 

Jamie took the letter and nodded. 

“Go out the window and take your dads car. As soon as you are far enough, take off the license plate,” NInes instructed.

Jamie quickly grabbed a bag and threw some things in it, he nodded along to what Nines was saying. 

“And don’t come back here. No matter what got it?”

Jamie looked up at him with his face still wet from crying, “Yeah, I got it,” he went to unlock the window and started to climb out. They heard some yelling from the other rooms. 

“I’ll find a way to contact you. Stay low, see if you can stay with Daniel,” Jamie got out of the window and was about to close it, “And Jamie,” He looked up at him, “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t want it to happen this way,” 

Jamie shrugged, “It was bound to happen eventually,” the yelling got closer and Jamie quickly shut the window and slid down the roof into the yard. The door slammed open right as the window thudded shut. Gavin Reed burst in out of breath, 

“I found him,” He called out over his shoulder. 

Nines turned around, “He just got away. I was looking around for him but I got here too late. He’s probably long gone by now,” 

Gavin bent over to catch his breath, “You almost gave us a heart attack. We thought you escaped,” 

“Why would I want to escape, detective?” He walked over and smiled at Gavin, “If I escaped I wouldn’t get to see you every day,” he winked, stayed just long enough to see the other mans face turn red, then headed out the room. He heard the detective mutter, “Fucking prick,” from behind him before following. 

\---

They sped the whole way back and managed to get to the station in under 30 minutes. Everyone was on high alert until they got Higgs in a cell, and once they did get back to the precinct and the mission was officially over the tension in the air disappeared. 

Once Ross was secured no one even cared enough to put handcuffs back on Nines. The small officer whose name he learned was Tina practically tackled Gavin in a hug. 

“You did it!” She screamed.   
Gavin tried wiggling out of her tight embrace, “Of course I did. Did you ever doubt me?” 

“Of course I doubted you,” She released him, “You’re a dumbass!”   
“Ha ha,” he sarcastically laughed.

An officer across the room yelled “Yo Chen!” Tina looked and saw a man waving her over, she excused herself and went to meet him. Nines walked up to Gavin. The detective smiled up at him.  
“Good job out there!” his face dropped, “But also fuck you. We almost had a panic attack when you disappeared like that… and why aren’t you handcuffed?” 

Nines chuckled, “Sorry for frightening you it wasn’t my intention,” he looked around the room, “Detective Reed, can I ask you something?” 

“Gavin,” He instructed. Nines looked confused. “Call me Gavin, idiot. And sure ask away,” 

The taller man smiled then took a breath. “Ross won't be staying here like I am… right?” 

“Higgs is considered a dangerous criminal so he is going to be sent to a higher security prison as soon as possible,” 

Nines let out a breath of relief, “Good,” 

“But he probably won’t be moved there until tomorrow. So he’ll be staying here for at least a night,” Gavin continued. 

Nines felt his heart speed up. What had he gotten himself into? He knew Higgs well enough to know that after being betrayed he is going to be out for blood. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“Listen, Detective- uh… Gavin. I don’t want to sound like I don’t trust you guys or anything,” Gavin raised an eyebrow, “...alright I don’t trust you guys. I’ve been RAISED to not trust cops, alright... “ He took a breath “However. I am trying to work with you and I think I’ve helped you guys a lot haven’t I?” 

“Yeah, you’ve helped us. What are you getting at?” 

“... I don’t feel safe staying here if Ross is going to be here,” Nines cut to the chase. 

“Nines, there’s security and even then Higgs won’t be able to get out of the cell. You’ll be fine,” Gavin assured but Nines shook his head. 

“No, you don’t know him like I do. His whole team is based on loyalty and I broke his loyalty. He is going to want me dead,” 

Gavin rolled his eyes, “It’ll only be for one night,” 

“He is used to getting what he wants and he is very capable. If I am in a cell next to him I won’t live to see morning,” 

Gavin stared him in the eyes suspiciously for several seconds, eventually, he must have decided Nines was telling the truth because he sighed and looked away. 

“Fine,”   
Nines let out a breath, “Thank you,”

“I’ll go talk to Fowler and see what I can do, but no promises,” 

Nines smiled happily at him and the shorter man rolled his eyes. He gestured for Nines to follow him and they walked over to a desk in the back of the bullpen, “You can sit at my desk until I get back… uh” he looked around and grabbed a pair of handcuffs off a nearby desk and handcuffed Nines to the table. “Wait here, don’t move,” 

Nines plopped down in the rolly chair, “Wow, whatever happened to trust?” 

“You are a criminal. You don’t get a whole lot of trust,” Gavin stated then turned to leave.

“I may be a criminal but at least I’m not an asshole,” Nines teased. 

“Ha, clearly you haven't had a conversation with yourself,” Gavin called out then headed to Fowler's office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter is pretty short but the next one is gonna be some heavy Reed900 so I hope that makes up for it.   
> I really hope you guys like this one! I absolutely loved all the comments I got on the last chapter.! So sorry for making you all worry. But you need not stress, Nines is in it for the long run. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Have a gorgeous week! 
> 
> -Star


	8. The Pain of Secrets and Knowledge

Nines watched Gavin have a heated chat with Fowler through the glass walls of the office for a few moments before growing bored and deciding to investigate the contents of the detectives’ desk instead. In other words, snoop.

 

There were a few photos, one with just Gavin and officer Chen, both clearly drunk at a bar, and another with the whole DPD. There was also a small one in a frame that read “happy birthday, asshole” with a photo of Gavin handcuffing a very beat up looking man while smiling cheerfully and giving a thumbs up to the camera. There was nothing else on the desk besides some unorganized paperwork and a dead succulent in the corner covered in dust. He was about to open the drawer and start looking in when he heard the office door slam open. 

 

Gavin stormed over to the handcuffed man, “We came to an agreement,” he stated. Nines looked up at him expectantly. “He said it was understandable that you feel unsafe so while Higgs is here you don’t have to stay here,” 

 

Nines lit up. He opened his mouth to thank the detective but Gavin held up a hand signaling for him to wait. “But we can’t just let you stay at some random place or whatever. So you’ll be staying at my house for the night,” 

 

Nines eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t even expect the captain to listen, and he certainly wasn’t expecting this. Gavin saw the look of confusion on Nines face

“You will basically be under house arrest, and I have to be your security or something,” 

 

He thought it over. He supposed it could be a lot worse. He could have been forced to stay with his  _ brother.  _ He looked over to Gavin, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and seemed pretty annoyed. Nines knew he probably should feel bad for causing Gavin so much stress over the past week, but unfortunately, Gavin was cute when frustrated so Nines had made a hobby of annoying the detective whenever he could. 

__ “Will I have to wear one of those ankle things?” He asked. 

 

“Yes, you will have to wear an ankle tracker,” Gavin responded without looking up. 

  
  


Nines let out a dramatic groan, “Ugh I hate those. They are uncomfortable and it’s so hard to find an outfit that looks good with them,” 

 

Gavin let out a chuckle. He unlocked the handcuff that was connected to the table and put it on Nines other hand. “They weren’t really made to be enjoyable,” he joked.   _ Shit,  _ Nines thought,  _ he’s cute when he laughs too.  _

 

\---

 

Gavin grabbed his jacket from the desk and motioned for Nines to follow him. They were almost at the exit of the bullpen when Tina stepped in front of Gavin. 

 

“Yo, Gav!” he said excitedly, she grabbed the taller man's arm, forcefully pulled him down so he was closer to her height, “Me and the boys are going out to grab some drinks to celebrate a job well done,” she spoke quieter, like she was telling a secret. She released him and went back to speaking at her normal volume, “You should come since you led the team! And because it’s karaoke night and homegirl knows you love some karaoke,” she nudged his side with her elbow. 

 

He laughed, “I’d love to, but I can’t” he motioned over to Nines. Nines gave a small wave with one of his cuffed hands. 

 

Tina smiled at Nines, then looked back to Gavin “Oof. Got stuck with babysitting duty?”

 

“Basically,” Gavin chuckled. 

 

“Well, we’ll miss you,” she said sincerely, “You are always the life of the party,” 

 

“The last time someone said that to me it was in college and it was only because I said I’d share my weed,” 

 

She snorted, “Shut up, dumbass,” They both laughed for a few seconds, Tina wiped a tear away from her eye. 

 

“I’ve gotta get home. The kids are waiting,” Gavin stated.

 

“They are cats, Gav, not human children,” 

 

Gavin just rolled his eyes, “See you tomorrow, Chen,” 

 

Gavin had started walking away with Nines when Tina called out, “You two don’t have too much fun,” 

 

Gavin stopped and looked at her, “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

She just winked and shot finger guns, then turned on her heels and walked away. Gavin chuckled again and walked out the door. 

  
  


\---

 

    The car ride was pretty calm. Neither of them talked, rock music played softly from the radio, Nines looked out the window and smiled lightly to himself. He knew it was silly, but he was just happy to be outside. He'd been locked up all week and the only time he was allowed out was to betray the people he cared about… so that made that trip a little less enjoyable. He watched the lights of the city pass by.

  
  


After about fifteen minutes they turned into a small neighborhood and pulled into the driveway of a worn down brick house. They got out the car, Gavin unlocked the front door with jangling keys, walked in and flicked on the lights. 

 

Nines followed him in, closing the door behind him, then looked around. It was a pretty small house with an open layout. Gavin sighed deeply and threw his jacket onto the couch and went to the kitchen to get something from the fridge. 

 

“This is a lovely house, Detective,” Nines tried making light conversation. 

 

Gavin laughed sarcastically from behind the refrigerator door, “I’m sure it’s nothing compared to your drug-money mansion,” Gav grabbed a beer from the fridge. He glanced over at Nines who was still looking around the house awkwardly, “Yo, you want one?” he gestured towards the beer. 

 

“No thanks, I don’t drink,” He said absentmindedly, “ And I didn’t have a ‘drug-money mansion’ as you so delicately put it,” he examined some pictures on the wall, “Technically speaking I’ve never really owned a house,” 

 

“ ‘The fuck do you mean you’ve never had a house?” Gavin grabbed the TV remote from the kitchen table and turned the TV on some trashy reality show for background noise. 

 

“I mean I’ve never had a house. My line of work required a lot of travel, so buying a house seemed pretty useless. I would always just stay at cheap motels. If there was ever downtime between jobs Ross would let me stay at his house, but frankly, I couldn’t stand staying there. That man has never organized in his life. So usually I would just stay at hotels. I could never afford the fancy resorts Ross would stay at,” 

 

Gavin seemed genuinely surprised. He took a small sip from his beer. Nines moved his arm but it was pulled back by the chain of the handcuffs. 

 

“Detective, can I take these off now?” Gavin gave him a suspicious glance, “I have on the ankle thing it’s not like I am going anywhere, ”He attempted to reason. Gavin continued to glare. Nines let out an annoyed sigh and went back to looking at the pictures. He heard Gavin laugh from the couch, 

“I was just fucking with you. Come here,” Gavin fished a key out from his pocket and walked over to  Nines. He grabbed the taller mans wrist and began unlocking the first cuff. 

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll try to escape? This doesn’t seem very wise,” Nines teased. He suddenly noticed how close Gavin was, he was taking extra long to unlock the cuffs and Nines relished the warmth of his hand on his wrist.

 

“Eh, not really. I figured if you really wanted to escape you’ve had plenty of chances to by now. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I like to think that maybe you’ve changed. Ya know, when this is all over, I think you’d make a really good detective,” Gavin finally got both cuffs off, he winked and walked back to the living room, tossing the handcuffs on the coffee table. Nines watched and absentmindedly rubbed where Gavin had touched. 

 

\---

 

It was still pretty early in the evening, Nines and Gavin had been barely watching random sitcoms on TV to avoid talking to each other. Gavin introduced Nines to his two cats who were pretty chill and stayed purring on Gavin’s lap most of the time. 

 

By now Gavin had had at least three beers, and Nines silently wondered if he did this regularly or if it was reserved for when he was forced to babysit criminals. 

 

“So, Detective, do you have any hobbies?” Nines asked randomly. 

Gavin was sitting in a love seat across the room while Nines sat on the couch, he rolled his eyes, “Shut up… And I told you to call me Gavin,” 

 

Nines hummed a laugh, “I was just trying to make conversation,”

 

“I hate small talk,” Gavin stated, then took a swig of his beer. 

 

“Would you prefer we talk about something more personal? Why did you decide to become a detective?” Nines questioned. 

 

Gavin thought for a second. “Alright, I’ll play,” He reached over to the table and turned the volume of the TV down, “But if I answer this you have to answer a question from me. That way it’s fair,” 

 

“This isn’t middle school and we aren’t playing twenty questions. Feel free to ask but I can’t promise I’ll answer,” Nines snickered. 

 

Gavin shrugged, “Fine... It was actually Hank who convinced me to be a detective. I was a very… politically active kid. In college, I went to a lot of protests. At one of the protests I got into a little trouble with the police and that’s when I met Hank. He said I had balls and talked me into joining the academy,” 

 

“And you hope you can do that to me?” Nines asked. He was amused that Gavin thought Nines could ever be a detective. All his life he knew what he was destined to do, it was almost comedic to think of changing his whole life over a cute boy. 

“Your situation is a lot different than mine, Nines,” Gavin stated, with no humor in his voice, “I protested because I hated seeing injustice in my community. I was pissed at how dangerous the world had become because people were too afraid of change. I love my job because now I feel like in my own way I am helping stop injustice. You sold drugs. You participated in the injustice I work hard to prevent. So yes, I hope I can convince you to change, but it won’t be like how Hank helped me,” They locked eyes for a few seconds and that's when Nines remembered. No matter how much he liked Gavin, no matter how cute his laugh was, or how he made his heart race. Gavin was a cop. And Nines was a criminal. Gavin would only ever see Nines as a criminal, just like everyone has his whole life. He wasn’t sure where along the way he had forgotten that, he had been comfortable with being labeled as a criminal. He guessed that the way Gavin treated him was refreshing. Like they were mutuals despite the differences. But now Gavin made his feelings very clear, the two of them were very different, and Gavin never wanted to be compared to an  _ evil, apathetic, criminal  _ like Nines.

 

The air suddenly felt stiff and uneasy as they both contemplated the weight of his words. 

Nines thought them over while staring at Gavin's warm eyes. He grew tired of the awkward tension between them 

“How exactly do you plan to convince me?” Nines winked. Gavin stopped glaring and his face grew red. Nines burst out laughing and Gavin soon followed. Nines had always taken pride in his ability to abruptly shift the atmosphere in a room. If he wanted people to be threatened, he could somehow make the air feel icy and uncomfortable with just a look or a word. It pissed him off when others were able to do it, so he mastered the art of lightening the mood at a young age. 

 

Gavin slowly stopped laughing, his face was still a few tints too red. “So now I get to ask you a question,” 

 

Nines crossed his arms, “You can try,” he smiled teasingly. 

 

“Why did you become a drug dealer?” 

 

Nines smile faltered a little, “No. Not that one. I’ll give you another try though because I am nice,” 

 

“Alright, fair,” Gavin thought for a moment, “How did you meet Higgs?” 

 

“He was a family friend. For a detective, you aren’t very good at this. This isn’t an interrogation, we are trying to get to know one another,” 

 

“So I have to ask a question that is personal but not TOO personal,” Gavin confirmed. 

 

“You’re the one who didn’t want small talk,” Nines reminded him. 

 

“Alright, that’s true,” he thought for a moment, then had an idea, “Do you have any embarrassing childhood stories about Connor I can use to make fun of him?”

 

Nines snickered, “That’s a plan I can get behind,” He took a second to compose himself and thought for a second. Struggling to bring up memories he hasn’t thought about in years. “Most embarrassing stories about him are because I pranked him somehow… I mean… There is the fact that he was spelling bee champion five years in a row in middle school,” 

 

“Wow, he really is a nerd,” Gavin laughed, “But that isn’t enough. I need the absolutely mortifying events,” Gavin said, evilly. Nines hummed and thought harder. 

 

“When we were around eleven we moved into this neighborhood where all the houses looked the same. We had just moved in and Connor was walking home from school and he went into the wrong house, stayed in there for several minutes and only realized he was in the wrong house when he saw some pictures of a married couple on the wall. He ran out screaming. It was hilarious,” Gavin wheezed. Suddenly the memories were coming back to Nines. “He never learned how to ride a bike…,”

 

Another one came to him in a flash, he sat up on the couch and almost screamed, “When we were in high school he was mad that I got a date to prom so he paid some random girl to pretend to be his girlfriend! She got pissed with him bossing her around after a few days and called him out in front of the school in the cafeteria. It was the highlight of my high school career,” 

 

Gavin choked on his laughs. “Oh, my shit that’s awesome,” 

 

“He also got cast as one of the mice in our school's production of Cinderella but I only make fun of him for that because I was pissed they wouldn’t let me be one of the stepsisters,”

They both laughed for several minutes, Gavin going on about how great blackmail it was, before they settled down and a comfortable silence filled the room.

  
  


Gavin yawned “It's getting late. You’re sleeping on the couch,” he informed and walked out of the room and returned a few seconds with some blankets. 

 

“Oh, I just remembered. I didn’t make my call today,” Declared Nines. Gavin looked at him confused, “I am allowed one phone call every day. I didn’t make one today. Could I use your phone?” he continued. 

 

Gavin stared at him through suspicious eyes. Nines silently pleaded. After a few seconds, Gavin sighed and gave in, “Fine. But I’m staying in here and listening to the conversation,” He reached in his pocket and handed Nines the phone. 

 

“That’s fine,” He leaned forward to grab the phone, “Though, I doubt you’d want to. It will probably be very boring for you,” 

 

“I’m not going to take the risk. For all I know you might be calling some of your friends to come and kill me in my sleep,” Gavin jokes, but Nines could tell there was some truth in it. 

 

He chuckled while he dialed the number.

 

It rang for a long while, he started to fear he wouldn’t answer, but finally, a groggy voice picked up on the other end, “Hello?” 

 

Nines spoke enthusiastically into the phone, “Hi Aunt Sara-Lee”

 

“Uh, bro, you got the wrong number. I am a teenage boy, I think I would know if I was someone’s aunt,” There was shuffling. It sounded like he woke him up. 

 

“Sorry for disturbing you,  _ SARA-LEE _ . It’s me, Nines,” Gavin continued to glare at him like he was analyzing every word that was said. Which was smart of him, but it made things on Nines part a lot more difficult to sound convincing. 

 

“Nines! Why are you calling me Sara-... Oh wait! I remember now. Dude, it’s been years since we’ve gone over codes! How was I supposed to remember that,” Jamie defensively explained himself. 

 

Nines fought the urge to roll his eyes, “I was just calling to check in on you. Did you visit  _ Uncle D _ ?” 

 

Jamie started to catch on, “You mean Daniel? I’ve known him since I was little but I’d hardly call him my uncle. And yeah, I gave him that letter you told me to give him. I don’t know what that thing said but whatever it was it sure scared the shit out of him. He got so pale I thought he was going to pass out. He’s letting me stay with him. His house is a lot cleaner than my dad’s. Speaking of which, fuck you and your cop bullshit! I had to leave all of my comics at that house! Do you know how many years I’ve been collecting them! I was thinking maybe if Daniel helped me I could sneak back in and get them-”

 

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Nines felt Gavin’s eyes burning into his head, “... If you stop taking your medicine,  _ you’ll die, _ ” He made sure to emphasize the last part

 

“You’re no fun,” Jamie complained

 

“And you’re an annoying piece of-,” He looked back over at Gavin, who still was listening intently, “... Anyway, talk to you later, Sara. Bye,” he hung up before the Jamie could say anything back. He let out a long sigh. The kid might get on his nerves at times, but he was glad to hear he was safe. That little nerd would not survive in prison. 

 

“Well that was an… interesting phone call,” Gavin snatched the phone away from the man on the couch. 

 

“My aunt and I have a weird relationship,” Nines explained, “She’s pretty old and I have to remind her to take care of herself,” 

 

Gavin seemed convinced by this “That’s surprisingly nice of you,”

 

Nines gasped and put a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended, “What? You think that I am not nice? Why would you think that?” 

 

Gavin snorted, “Because you’re kind of a prick. I will say, your a lot nicer than most drug dealers I’ve worked with, so I will give you that,” 

 

“I suppose,” Nines giggled. He unfolded the blankets Gavin had brought in and started getting ready for bed. Gavin turned around like and headed to his room, but stopped before he got to the hallway. He looked back.

“Can… I ask you one more thing?” 

 

“Go ahead,” Nines responded without looking up at him,

 

“About what I said earlier- Do you… think you can change? I mean after everything that’s happened your opinion on selling drugs has to be different now, right?” 

 

Nines paused and thought for a long moment. The silence stretched on uncomfortably long and he tried to think of the right words. Gavin looked down and was about to walk away when Nines finally broke the quiet, 

 

“I think-” Gavin turned to him expectantly. Nines sighed “... Gavin, you have to understand. I’ve known you for a week. I’ve been taught these things since I was little. You can’t expect me to throw away everything I’ve ever known. So don't-... Don’t get your hopes up that I will transform into a good person. I know who I am and I have no intention of changing,”  

 

There was another long silence. Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed and he clenched his fist. He shook his head at nothing, then turned on his heels and went to his room. 

 

Nines plopped down on the couch in frustration. He never had any intention on “changing” or “getting better”. Frankly, he didn’t think he needed to get better. He knew his plan and he intending on sticking to it. But he wasn’t sure why it hurt so bad to explain that to Gavin… 

 

Whatever. Deep down he knew it would all be worth it when he took his rightful place. In the near future, when he had hundreds of little pawns running around and making him rich, he wouldn’t even remember Gavin’s name. Or his stupid brown eyes that looked so hurt a few moments ago. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings! Happy late Valentines day! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
>  Sorry if it feels a bit rushed I was kind of busy all week but I was really excited for this chapter so I tried my best to post it this week. Finally, there's some mild spice with Gav and Nines UwU. I had a lot of fun coming up with silly stories about Connor. The point of this chapter was to develop the relationship between Gav and Nines. I wanted to show how they could go from serious to joking in a matter of minutes so if it feels a bit wild that's why. A lot sorta happened and I didn't get to reread it as many times as I normally do so I hope you guys will forgive me if it isn't written the best :/
> 
> Anyhoo. I hope you all enjoy. I love reading the comments you guys leave, they all make me smile!   
> Have a great week everyone. 
> 
> -Star


	9. Cause

The next day they arrived at the precinct pretty early, Gavin barely talked to Nines the whole way there. He wasn’t sure why he was so mad at Nines. It was unrealistic for him to think that Nines would ever change, but still, his pride rose in him and he refused to make eye contact with him. 

They walked through the glass doors of the bullpen and Gavin made a beeline for the coffee machine, mumbling for Nines to fuck off and leave him alone under his breath. He marched over and poured himself some black coffee, he was so focused on the warm cup in his hands that he didn’t notice Tina behind him sitting at their usual spot. 

“Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” She chimed 

He jumped and turned to her, “You scared the shit out of me, Chen” 

She giggled, “Have a rough night? I thought you would enjoy some alone time with Nines. I know I would. He may technically be a criminal but you gotta admit he is fine,” 

“Shut it, I’m not in the mood,” He took a long sip and went to sit next to her. 

“Wanna talk about it?” She seemed sincere but Gavin only snorted. 

“Fuck no,” 

She remained dead serious, “You’re going to have to open up one day, fuck face,” 

“Yeah whatever,” He began- barely paying attention to what she was saying- when he saw Connor and some other cops pass by escorting a tall handcuffed man with grey hair. Higgs. “Shit,” he muttered and jumped out of his seat, abandoning Tina in the break room. 

He ran to catch up and grabbed Connor by the arm, “What the fuck is he still doing here? I thought he was supposed to leave this morning,” 

Connor pulled his arm free. “I thought that too, but Fowler says we should interrogate him first and see if we can get anything before sending him off,” 

“Shit” Gavin repeated. He did a quick scan of the room and found Nines sitting at his desk looking through his stuff. He didn’t have time to care about that at the moment because the cops were currently walking Higgs in the direction of the man who betrayed him the day before. 

He sped over to Nines but he didn’t get there in time, right when he got by the desk Higgs locked eyes with his former employee. 

“You piece of shit,” He growled and went to attack but the officers held him back. 

Nines had a quick look of terror in his eyes but he blinked it away and looked at the ground. 

“What, you won’t even look me in the eyes? You fucking snake,” Higgs spat out, still straining to break free from the officers. 

Nines looked up, “Hello, Ross,” He said calmly. 

“Don’t call me that! Don’t you act like we are friends you traitor. You fucking coward,” a vein shot up his neck and his face was red with anger and hate. 

Gavin stepped in front of him, blocking him from Nines, “That’s enough,” 

He was close enough to see how red Higgs eyes were and how pale his face was. There was a pause as Higgs glared daggers at Gavin. He didn’t back down, he stood his ground and stared right back. Then the officers pulled the tall man away. 

Gavin turned back to his desk and saw Nines with his head down, “You alright?” Nine’s head remained lowered but his gaze looked up to meet Gavin’s. And now Gavin could see the water at the corners of his eyes. He put a hand on Nine’s shoulder, “Don’t listen to him. You’re doing the ri-” Nines stood up and Gavin had to take a step back to look up at the taller man. 

“Shut up. You don’t know shit. Don’t-” He faltered “Just… Don’t” He stormed off towards the holding cells.

 

Gavin was tempted to follow him but he heard Connor shuffle behind him.

“Sorry about him, he’s always been kind of dramatic,” 

Gavin thought back to how he had treated him the night before, “No, I mean, I think he has a right to be kind of stressed right now,” There was a pause and he noticed the Connor looked like he was about to have a panic attack, “Do you… need something,” 

Connor sighed and composed himself, “I am going to be the one interrogating Higgs,” 

“That’s a stupid idea. Do you realize how dangerous that is? Who the fuck’s idea was that?” Gavin practically yelled

“Fowlers,” Connor stated. Gavin gave a confused look. “It makes sense. Higgs is going to get pissed seeing me, I can use his anger to get him to talk… Could you observe? It’s not that I don’t trust the others it’s just… I don’t know it’s hard to explain,” 

Gavin looked over his shoulder to where Nines had left, and sighed, “Sure, whatever,” Connor breathed a thanks and they headed to the interrogation. 

\---

Gavin watched from behind the glass as Connor nervously walked into the interrogation room. Higgs has his arms cross and he was staring at the floor, he didn’t look up until Connor sat down in front of him. Higgs scowled but didn’t say anything. 

Connor took a shaky breath, trying to appear calm. “Good morning. I’m sorry that we had to meet under such difficult circumstances. My name is Connor, I’m just here to ask a few questions,” The man stared at him like he was trying to burn a hole into his head, “... Okay. For the records could you please say your full name?” 

“Fuck you” Higgs growled. 

“I understand that you are… upset with me. But please just cooperate. The sooner you answer the sooner both of us can leave,” Connor reasoned. Higgs leaned forward with his arms on the table. 

“ You know, now that I think about it, I’ve heard a lot about you, Connor, ”Higgs' voice was rough and intimidating, it made it seem like he was interrogating Connor instead of the other way around, “I know all about you and your family,” 

“That isn’t what we are here to talk about. There’s no use trying to deflect the questions, Higgs, we will get the information one way or another. We were just hoping you would make things easier for everyone,” Connor warned.

Higgs' eyes were tired and worn but full of danger. If you looked close enough you could tell his eyes have seen a lot in his life. What Connor noticed the most was his expression, a practiced stance he must have done hundreds of times, not too unlike when Nines was trying to be intimidating. The difference was that Nines was cool and calculated, Higgs was an unpredictable bomb that was guaranteed to go off at any moment. Connor could see a threat and a promise behind Higgs' eyes. 

“What can you tell me about your supplier? ” Connor questioned. 

“How old were you when you left? Did you just disappear one night or did you have the decency to leave a note or say goodbye?” Higgs shot back. 

Connor was getting frustrated, “Where are you getting the Red Ice?” 

Higgs lips twisted into a wicked, knowing smile, “The same place your father got it,”   
Connor clenched his fist under the table. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to out intimidate Higgs, he didn’t have any sort of plan. He was thrown into this last minute and he wasn’t in the right mindset to think of a strategy. He felt the pressure of doing his job, but he also knew Gavin was watching and could hear every word. He felt trapped and out of control. 

“... So Daniel then?” Connor finally whispered. 

“I never said that,” Higgs responded nonchalantly, which made matters even worse. 

“You said the same place my father got it. That’s Daniel. Where does he hide now? Can you give me a location,” Connor prodded. 

“I don’t know,” Higgs answered like he was never even listening to the question. 

“What about buyers? Do you know some of the names?” 

Higgs made a face of disgust and suddenly was interested in the conversation again. “Weasley would be so disappointed in you. Me and him were close, you know. He used to be my boss, then we met and became best friends, and later gave me a higher status. When he died I took over. People were sad at first, a few protests and assassination attempts, but I put my foot down and then no one messed with me after that. After so many years I think people like me a lot better than Weasley. He was more hands-on than I would ever be, I prefer to handle things behind the scenes,” 

“That isn’t what we are here to talk about. Answer my question,” Connors patience was wearing thin and his face was getting red. 

“What? I thought it might be therapeutic for you to talk about him. You must be saddened about his death… But then again, I didn’t see you at his funeral so maybe not,”

“I only found out he was dead last year. Even if I had known I wouldn’t have come, he was a horrible person,” Connor explained. He glanced over at the one-sided mirror then continued. “Your friend, Camille, was also arrested and interrogated. What can you tell me about her?” 

“Camille is a good kid,” He said quickly then gave a questioning look at the window, “Do your little cop buddies know about your father?” 

“That isn’t what we are here to talk about,” Connor fumed. 

Ross laughed, “They don’t, huh?” He accused, “So they don’t know that you are the son of one of Detroit's most infamous drug dealers? They must also not know that he was the leader before me. Or that you were supposed to take his place, but instead you chose to run away like a coward and become a cop!” 

“Shut up!” Connor barked. “...Yes, okay, they didn’t know. It’s true that he was the leader, and that he wanted me to take his place. But that doesn’t make sense to me, it’s a criminal organization not some sort of Dynasty. I left and I am not ashamed of that and no matter what you say you won’t make me ashamed,” he leaned forward, “Take a good look at this situation, Higgs. I’m the one with the keys, and you’re the one in cuffs. Good luck trying to convince me I made the wrong choice,”

There was a pause as Connor regained his composure and Higgs seemed to ponder over how to respond. Finally, Connor fixed his tie and sat up straight. 

“I’m going to ask you this one more time,” He announced, “Can you give me the names of any buyers?”

Higgs was silent, staring across the metal table at the officer. It didn’t seem like he was going to say anything and Connor was about to give up. 

“What about your mother? Do you ever think about her?” Higgs asked quietly, he seemed genuinely curious. 

“Why are you so intent on talking about my family? My mom disappeared a year after my brother was born, then Weasly never talked about her. I assumed she ran off. Honestly, I don’t really care,” Connor concluded and pushed his chair back and was about to stand up to leave. 

“-You… really don’t know what happened to her?” 

Connor paused. 

“Something happened to her? What do you mean?” Connor’s eyebrows furrowed and he sat back down. 

The grey-haired man across the table smiled sadly, “I’m not sure you’ll want to know. It might change how you view things,”

“I think I have a right to know about my mother!” Connor snapped

“Yeah, I know,” Higgs looked down, Connor hated how serious he was suddenly acting opposed to the anger he displayed a few minutes ago. “Your mom is actually how I met Weasly,” he explained. Connor looked at him, puzzled. “Your mother, Alicia, was close friends with my wife. They met in the hospital,” 

“The hospital?” Connor echoed 

Higgs looked up at Connor with sympathy and Connor absolutely hated it. “They both had cancer,” he finally confessed. 

Connors' eyes grew wide and the news hit him like a weight of bricks, his whole body felt heavy. “So she didn’t run away… she died?” Connor concluded. 

“Sadly yes, but… that’s where things get complicated. The doctors told her that it wouldn’t be safe for her to have kids but she wanted to anyway. I remember my wife pleading with her to reconsider but Alecia was always stubborn. She had you and the doctors were amazed she survived the birth. After that, they said she only had a year to live. 

“A few months later she got pregnant with your brother. They expected her to die in labor but she didn’t, she was always surprising us like that,” He smiled reminiscently to himself, “My wife introduced me to her and then she introduced me to her husband, it was sheer coincidence that her husband had sort of been my boss for years despite us never having met. The two of them bonded over being sick, and me and Weasly bonded over business. We became close friends and soon he let me work with him at the top… Alecia lived almost a year longer than the doctors said she would. When she finally did go… it-... wasn’t the cancer that killed her,”

“What are you talking about?”

“Connor, I don’t want to upset you,” 

“Really? Because it seemed like that was your goal since the moment I walked in here. Tell me what happened. Now,” Connor demanded 

Higgs nodded solemnly, “One night her and Weasly were at a party. Knowing Weasly he probably went for business but had a drink or two and decided to stay. I wasn’t there when it happened but Weasly told me about it the day after. Apparently, they were having a good time, both pretty drunk, then… the police showed up. Some men tried fighting them and Weasly and Alecia snuck out the back. They got to the car and were about to get in when they heard the cock of a gun and someone yelled for them to freeze. They put their hands up and turned around to face a young officer with his gun aimed at them speaking his location into a walkie talkie. Weasley suddenly reached inside his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer yelled something and-” he paused. 

“What? What happened?” Connor was close to reaching over the table and punching the man, but Higgs held up a hand and continued. 

“The officer shot. He missed Weasly but- he hit Alecia… in the chest,” Connors' eyes stung and he couldn’t speak through the lump in his throat. “Weasly didn’t waste a second and shot back and killed the officer... But it was too late… he ran to her and- she died in his arms. She had been by his side for so many years, we all felt the weight of her death pretty hard,” 

Connor sat there in shock, still processing what he was being told. “Why-... didn’t Weasly tell me about this?” he finally choked out. 

 

“He didn’t talk about her. I don’t think he could. He started drinking a lot more after she died, no one blamed him. Everyone in this line of work has lost someone, we knew what he was going through,” Higgs remained calm and sympathetic. 

Connor looked down, suddenly pissed. “Did Nines know about this?”

Higgs' eyebrows raised like he wasn’t expecting the question. “Yes. Weasly must have told him after you left,” 

There was a long silence. “Now do you see why I didn’t want to tell you, Connor. I didn’t want you to feel like you are working for the very people who are responsible for your mother's death,” Higgs said, but now it was clear as day. The words dripped with sarcasm, his tone completely condescending. That’s exactly how he wanted Connor to feel. 

Connor abruptly stood up, “Screw you. Go rot in prison for all I care,” and he stormed out of the room. He marched down the hallway, not giving himself a second to think about anything else.

 

He stopped in front of the glass door separating him from his brother in the cell. 

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Connor spat out. 

Nines looked up at him, surprised by the sudden outrage. He saw the tears on Connors' cheeks and instantly knew what he was referring to. 

“Oh, shit,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry, I am a little late! I sorta procrastinated writing this because any and all confidence I had in my writing disappeared over this week :0. But I decided to work through it and not give up. 
> 
> I'm sorry if you guys aren't really interested in my plot, I know the whole thing is sorta plot-heavy, I have the whole story mapped out. I will make up for it with some Reed900 later on. 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoy this Sad Boy Hours chapter. I like writing dialogue but I am working on improving my actual writing as well :/  
> Anyway, thank you all so much for your kudos and comments. If you spread the word and stuff I would be super grateful. 
> 
> I hope everyone has a lovely day   
>  -Star


	10. Effect

  
  


“How long have you known?” Connor asked when he finally calmed himself down. They were standing up looking at each other through the glass of the holding cell. Nines had his arms crossed and his face seemed emotionless, he always did this when he didn’t want to talk about something. He would push away his feelings and pretend to be tougher than he was, Connor guessed it may have come in handy in his line of work. 

 

“A couple of years… The day after you left dad got really drunk. He told me everything,” 

 

Connor clenched his fist, “And you didn’t think to mention it to me?” 

 

“In all honesty,” Nines started, “I had other things on my mind. It’s not my job to keep you informed, Con,” 

 

“It’s our mother! I deserve to know how our mother died,” Connor fumed. 

 

Nines got defensive, “You don’t  _ deserve  _ shit. You are working with the same people who killed her,” 

 

“I didn’t know! You can’t be mad at me for something I never knew… If I knew how she died maybe-....”  Connor shook his head slightly, “ And I do not ‘work with the people that killed her’. You can’t hate all cops just because one killed her,” 

 

“I can’t? Really? Wow, I never even thought of it that way. My whole view is changed now that you have enlightened me. I guess I just  _ can’t.  _ Woah, everything is different now,” Nines words dripped with sarcasm. 

 

“Gavin is a cop,” Connor stated. 

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Nines barked out accusingly, but Connor could hear something shift in his brothers' voice. 

 

“You like him don’t you?” 

 

There was a beat where Nines thought of how to respond. For a second Connor feared he might have crossed a line, but eventually, Nines spoke up, just as cold and emotionless as before. 

“I don’t  _ like  _ him. I think he’s attractive, that’s it. He is just a means to an end,” Nines retorted, though, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. 

 

“What end? Are you just-?” 

 

“Once I get out of here I’m never looking back, Con. You people honestly think that when all this is over I’ll start anew and become a model citizen? Everything I am doing is to get out of jail. As soon as I am out of here everything will go back to normal. Except ya boy might just get a promotion,” A look of horror must have been on Connors' face because Nines laughed. “Good luck getting anyone to believe you. You’re way too invested in this case, I’m amazed they let you work with me to begin with,” 

 

  
Connor looked at his brother in disgust, “Gavin isn’t going to help you with shit when he finds out that you’re just using him,” 

 

“He won’t find out,” Nines sounded sure of himself, but Connor shot him a look, and he instantly understood the threat.  An untrained eye wouldn’t have noticed anything, but Connor saw the flash of fear and sadness enter his brothers' eyes before Nines shook it away and forced himself to be emotionless again. “Go ahead. Tell him everything, I don’t care. It won’t change anything. I’m getting out of here no matter what, and when I do I won’t even remember his name,” 

 

“We’ll see about that,” was all Connor said, and then walked out.

-      -       -

  
  


After Connor left the interrogation room, it was time for Higgs and the girl to be transported to the prison. When they were taken care of Gavin made it his mission to find Connor and make sure he was alright. Connor and him had a rough start to their friendship. At first, Gavin couldn’t stand him and his stupid eagerness. For almost a year they bickered and almost got into several fights, all of which started with Gavin being a dick. Over time he grew respect for Connors work ethic and eventually they became friends of sorts, if still somewhat rivals. They got on each other's nerves, but they were friends, and Gavin didn’t want to see his friend get fired for killing his brother. 

 

He walked back inside after Higgs was officially gone and saw Connor nervously waiting by his desk. Gavin slowly walked up to him and saw that his eyes were still red from crying earlier. 

 

“Hey, how ya feeling?” He carefully asked. 

 

Connor looked up at him, “Can we talk?”  Gavin only nodded.

Connor sighed, “Look, can you… not tell anyone about- you know. My family and stuff? It’s not that I don’t-” 

 

Gavin held up a hand to stop him, “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. If you don’t want me to tell anyone then I won’t. It’s not my business to share, plus I know you’d do the same for me,”  

 

Connor smiled, “Thanks,” Gavin shrugged and Connor was quiet for a second. Gav could tell he had more to say but was debating on whether to say it or not. 

 

“Con, you good?” He interrupted Connor in his thoughts. 

 

Connor’s eyebrows furrowed, “Do you… trust my brother?” he finally settled on asking. 

 

Gavin was taken aback. “I mean, I guess. I know I shouldn’t because he’s a criminal and all but… I don’t know. I also think there’s more to him than that,” 

 

Connor’s eyes were sad and Gavin could tell he had a lot on his mind. 

 

“Just be careful. Nines is unpredictable and I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Connor warned. Gavin wanted to ask what he meant, but Connor walked away, and he was left there to wonder. 

  
  
  


- - -

 

Almost a whole day went by where Nines just sat in his cell and no one bothered him. On one hand, he was bored, and on the other, he was getting increasingly paranoid. Only a few minutes after the conversation with his brother did he regret everything that he said. His chest felt heavy as he thought about the possibilities. He wondered how Gavin would react when Connor told him; if it would ruin everything between them. He knew they weren’t very close, but it would make his job a lot harder if all of the police suspected him. And he had to admit, it was nice having at least one person on his side. He spent the day pacing in the cell and running over the different scenarios in his mind.

 

It was at the end of the day and he had just sat down on the uncomfortable bed,  he didn’t notice the figure standing in front of the glass until he heard a cough. He jumped slightly and spun around to see Gavin standing there awkwardly. He let out a breath and stood up. He felt his heart sink at the thought of Gavin hating him, he wasn’t sure why and he didn’t give himself time to ponder over it. 

 

“Hey,” Gavin finally said. 

 

Nines crossed his arms, “Hello. You need something?” relying on attitude to cover up his fear had always been a useful tactic of his. 

 

“... Not really. I just thought I should tell you-...” Gavin paused and ran a hand through his hair, “I was watching when Connor interrogated Higgs. So I heard everything about your parents. I promised Connor I wouldn’t tell anyone, I thought you should know since it’s your personal life too,” 

Nines paused  “Is that all?” 

 

Gavin grew confused, “...Yeah? Would there be anything else?” Nines let out a deep sigh of relief, realizing Connor must not have told him. Gavin continued, “Also I just wanted to see how you were doing. And give you a heads up that you’re probably going to be interrogated again tomorrow. Everyone's super happy that Higgs is caught but we know someone is just going to take his place if we don’t act fast,” 

 

“So you just came to chat?” Nines took a step closer to the glass separating them. 

 

“I hadn’t seen you all day I thought you could use a little company,” Gavin explained nonchalantly. 

 

“Well, I’m glad. I’ve been bored out of my mind,” He thought for a second, “You know how I stayed at your house that one time? Do you think your Boss Dude would let me go out for just a few hours if a cop or a two came with me? There is a really nice cafe not far from here with amazing coffee. I’d love to go there with you sometime,” He punctuated the sentence with a wink. 

 

Gavin chuckled and Nines could see his cheeks turn a few shades redder. “I doubt Fowler would ever allow that. When this is all  _ over _ I’d be happy to get some coffee with you,” 

 

Nines rolled his eyes, “Who knows when this will be over. I feel like I’ve been here for years,” 

 

“It’s only been a few weeks, jackass,” Gavin laughed. 

 

“Still-” Nines continued “In my line of work we are taught to live in the now. The future is never guaranteed,” 

 

“I appreciate the philosophical advice but there are some things that are out my control,” Gavin stated and Nines let out a dramatic sigh. 

 

There was a long pause where neither of them knew what to say, but Gavin seemed to have something on his mind that he was thinking over deeply. His eyebrows were furrowed and he stared at the ground, he opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind and went back to looking down. 

 

“What is it?” Nines asked impatiently. Gavin looked up with something sad in his eyes that Nines had never seen before. As much as he loved pissing Gavin off, he discovered that he hated seeing him sad and instantly regretted saying anything. 

 

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it until yesterday but… something's been on my mind all day,” Gavin explained. 

 

“Which is?” Nines didn’t mean to sound like such an asshole, but the statement came out a lot sassier than intended.  

 

Gavin looked up at him with the same sad eyes, “I know it’s probably apart of your job so it’s a dumb question but… have you… killed people?” 

 

The question took Nines off guard, he hadn’t been expecting it so he didn’t really have an answer prepared. There was another pause where he tried to think of the best way to explain. Finally, he settled on. 

“...Not directly,” 

 

“What the fuck does that mean?” Gavin snapped 

 

“I’m getting to it,” Nines snapped back. He took a breath and he continued, “Technically speaking, I have never killed anyone. I kept things running pretty smooth so there were rarely any instances where violence was needed. Higgs tried to get me to bring a gun to every meeting but… I wouldn't. I never would. I guess it’s because of how my mom died or whatever psychological reason, but I hate guns. Always have. They make me uncomfortable and-... afraid. So I never brought one,” Gavin stared at him, waiting for him to go on.  “... But I was in charge of a lot of people. Though I never killed anyone with my own hands, I often gave orders for people to be killed. I hated it but I reasoned with myself that if I wasn’t the one pulling the trigger then I wasn’t guilty,” 

 

“Okay… so you never killed anyone directly but you were responsible for some deaths?” Gavin repeated, mainly to himself. It looked like he was taking it in, or like he was trying to understand. Nines was expecting him to be angry or upset but he was taking it surprisingly well.

 

“I’m not proud of it, it’s just apart of the job. And it could be a lot worse,” Nines reasoned 

 

Gavin let out a humorless laugh, “It’s still pretty fucking bad,” Nines shrugged, not disagreeing. 

 

“You’re a cop, though. Surely you’ve had to shoot at some bad guys before, right?” Nines questioned. 

 

“I’ve shot before but I’ve never hit anyone fatally. I always try to aim for somewhere that won’t kill,” Gavin’s face suddenly went a little pale, “By the way how’s your leg?” 

 

Nines was confused at the sudden topic change, he looked down to inspect the injured leg, moving it around for effect. “I won’t be running any marathons soon, but it doesn’t hurt as bad. If I don’t put pressure on it it’s fine, I’ll probably be limping for years,” 

 

“... About that…” Gavin said sheepishly. Nines gave him a look. “I probably should have told you sooner, but I-...” 

 

Nines glared, “Yes?” 

 

“I was the one… who shot you in the leg... Sorry?” Gavin finally whispered, while wincing. 

 

Nines put a hand over his chest and pretended to be shocked. “It was you? After all this time, I would have never suspected. I can’t believe it. I trusted you!” 

 

Gavin picked up on the sarcasm and rolled his eyes, “If you’re just going to be a prick about it-” 

 

“My dream of being a professional tap dancer is ruined! I’ll never be an Olympic gold medalist! I’ll never be able to run dramatically into my soulmates arms! All my hopes and dreams are down the drain. Now I have to turn to a life of crime,” Nines interrupted. 

 

“You’ve already turned to a life of crime,” Gavin reminded. 

 

“Yeah well, now I have a dramatic backstory. One day I will get my revenge, Detective Reed!” Nines swore and Gavin chuckled at his dramatics. “You won’t be laughing when you have a bullet in  _ your  _ leg!” Finally, Nines couldn’t hold it in and began laughing with him. 

They stood there cracking up for several minutes until the laughter died down. Gavin glanced down to Nines injured leg, “Seriously though, you aren’t mad?” 

 

Nines shrugged, “I kinda suspected it was you. I knew you seemed a little too familiar. But no, I’m not mad. If anything I’m grateful, if you hadn’t of shot me I wouldn’t have been reunited with my brother,” he paused, “ and I would have never gotten to know you, which honestly would have been a shame,” 

 

Gavin’s face grew red, “Well I’m glad there are no hard feelings… About anything... Goodnight, Nines, see you tomorrow,” 

 

“Goodnight, Detective. Don’t shoot any strangers in the leg on your way home,” 

 

Gavin flipped him off while walking out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry for skipping last week, I took a little mental health break from writing. I'm all good no worries just felt a little down. But I have returned! With a mediocre chapter that's kinda awkwardly written but whateves.   
> Nines has known all along that Gavin was the one that shot him, he is a very smart mans. 
> 
> I drew a little bit of Ulterior Motives art on my Instagram account if anyone is interested @minimart007 ;) 
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know it's a bit short and choppy. I've been really focused on plot lately so I wanted to make sure I got in some Reed900 action. Thank you all so much for the support and the kudos and the comments! They all mean so much to me and make me so happy that I decided to post this fic. :)


	11. Contemplation

The next morning Nines awoke to a knocking on the glass of his cell and a gruff, familiar voice saying, “Hey, jackass,” 

 

He groaned and sat up to see Gavin standing at the entrance of his small, temporary room, with two steaming cups in his hands. ”Good morning to you too, Detective,” He ran a hand through his hair which he was sure was a mess due to his tossing and turning. Usually, he wouldn’t care about how he looked in front of others, but for some reason he found himself getting increasingly worried about his appearance in front of Detective Reed. He never gave himself time to think about why. 

 

“You’re gonna be interrogated in a few. I thought some coffee might make it a bit easier,” Gavin opened the glass door and held out a cup. Nines gave him a sideways look, then stood up to meet him at the door to take the offering, making sure their hands touched when he grabbed the coffee. 

 

“Thanks,” He smiled down at the shorter man. Standing this close he could see the purple under Gavins eyes, which was most likely from being up this early, and the flutter of his eyelashes. Gavin coughed awkwardly and took a step back. “Well, let’s get to it,”. 

 

Nines took a few quick strides to catch up with him and asked from behind, a little curious but mostly hopeful, “Will  _ you  _ be the one doing the questioning again?” 

 

Gavin laughed, “The whole ‘interrogation’ thing is really just a formality since we can’t use information you tell us outside or whatever. None of us are taking it too seriously, you answer a few questions and then we decide where to go from there,” 

 

“So…?” Nines waited. 

 

He chuckled again, “Sure I can do it,” 

 

Nines smiled to himself and lifted up the coffee cup finally, that’s when he noticed the logo on the side. Black letters swirling around each other to spelling out a French name he could never pronounce yet had seen several times in the past. 

 

“This is the cafe I was telling you about… Did you-” He began. 

 

“I knew which one you were talking about. I had been to it a few times before and thought I’d go ahead and stop there since it was on the way and you said you liked it. That's all,” Gavin said with a straight face, but Nines could see the hint of red on his cheeks. 

 

Nines smiled into the coffee and took a sip. 

  
  


On the way to the usual gray and glass room they passed by Connor, who smiled at Gavin then purposefully looked past Nines. He knew he would have to talk to his brother and apologize eventually. When they got into arguments like this, ironically enough, it was usually Nines who apologizes first. Though they got on each other's nerves and he quite enjoyed pissing Con off, he got unreasonably anxious when they were in an actual fight. Perhaps, he reasoned, it was because despite how their relationship currently is, before everything got complicated Connor and Nines were very close. How could they not have been? They were practically twin brothers (despite what Connor may say) with no mom and an asshole dad. All they had was each other. He thought back to the days when they would play with their Transformers trucks, and he’d get in fights with the kids at school who called his brother lame, playing basketball in the neighborhood park. Then one night Connor said he got accepted into some sort of academy and that he would be leaving. Nines wouldn’t have been so upset had Connor just told him sooner, they could have run away together, they were supposed to always be by each other's side. But instead, Connor told him the night before, they got into a big fight and the next morning Connor was gone. Leaving Nines with an alcoholic dad and a business to run. 

 

They arrived at the room and took a seat across from each other, Gavin had a notebook and a pencil presumably to write down any information Nines told him. Nines thought about how in another world, under different circumstances, things could be different. They would still be sitting across from each other, but instead of at a cold, metal table they’d be in a darkly lit room at a fancy restaurant, the table in front of them having a white cloth draped over it and maybe flowers or a candle in the center. It wouldn’t be their first date, maybe their third or fourth, proof things are starting to get serious. They’d order, maybe in this world Nines would be vegetarian, and they’d chat about their lives and tell funny stories. Gavin would say the restaurant is pretentious and Nines would retort by saying Gavin has no class to which they would both laugh. When they are done eating they would argue over who would pay the check (Nines reasons that in this world he would be rich, but have a  _ legal  _ source of income. Like a doctor or something fancy like that.) then they would compromise and split it. When they step outside it would be raining so they would share an umbrella and Gavin would walk Nines home. They would arrive at Nine’s large, yet modest, home and stand at the doorstep to say their awkward goodbyes. Gavin would say that he needs to get home, but before walking off he’d press a quick and soft kiss to Nines cheek. Nines would blush and watch the other walk away into the night. 

 

Of course, this was only a fantasy. He was infinitely jealous of this imaginary world that his brain sadistically conjured. He knew there were other paths he could have taken and other choices he supposedly should have made, but he didn’t regret anything. Although that ideal world would never be made possible, he reasoned that his current life was pretty alright, he couldn’t have fucked up that badly if Gavin was in it. 

 

“Nines?” Gavin looked into his eyes, “I asked if you're ready to start” 

 

Nines looked up, embarrassed. He had probably been staring off into space like an idiot. 

“Yeah, go ahead” 

 

Gavin shrugged and looked down at his notepad. 

“Alright let's jump into it. When you were apart of the criminal organization formally under the control of Ross Higgs, were you ever in contact with whoever supplied the Red Ice,” 

 

“Well, I’ve been in the field for a long time so we’ve been through several people… Most of them died… The current supplier is a dude named Ralph. He and his people have a little clubhouse a few miles from the border,” Nines explained nonchalantly, Gavin jotted it down. 

 

“Do you know his last name?” The detective asked without looking up from the paper. 

 

Nines thought for a second, scratching the back of his head contemplatively, “Honestly, I have no clue. I’ve only ever heard people call him Ralph,” He gave a half smile, “Sorry,” 

 

“It’s alright, that should be enough to track him down, but I do have a few other questions,” Nines found it cute when Gavin acted all professional, he mentally scolded himself for it. 

“Shoot,” he paused, “Actually don’t. I’ve only got one good leg,” 

 

Gavin snorted, breaking his serious facade. “Shut up,” he said through laughter. He took a breath to collect himself then finally asked, “Now that Higgs is gone, do you know of any people who would attempt to take his place,” 

 

Nines fought the urge to say “You mean besides me?”, instead, he pretended he had to think about it. 

 

“There are several I can think of who might  _ try…  _ but I’ve worked with these people for years and I know none of them have what it takes to lead. They’ll give up or be replaced within days,” Nines contested truthfully.

 

Gavin thought for a moment, “So what do you think is going to happen?” 

 

“If I were to take a wild guess…There will be several people who try to take over, none of them have the balls to stay. Eventually, they will give up trying and find some other drug ring to join,” It was no wild guess. When his father died two people tried taking over, both of which Nines scared off, then Higgs barged in, claiming he had more experience since he had another organization he would merge with Weasley’s and started saying he was in charge now. Nines wanted to fight back, but Higgs had big people and big guns. Nines couldn’t fulfill his promise to his father if he was dead.  For years Nines did all of the heavy lifting and actual work while Higgs ran off to take care of his wife and got all the money and recognition. 

 

Gavin hummed, “So you really think it’s over that easy? We arrest Ralph and then they will all just, give up?” Nines shook his head with a smirk. “And you’re not trying to… protect anyone are you?” Gavin shot a suspicious glare across the table. 

 

Nines was taken aback. “Detective, who do I have to protect?  You have Higgs and Camille, the only two people who have cared about me in years,” 

 

“What about that kid? The one that you said got away?” Gavin questioned 

 

“Jamie hasn’t done anything wrong, he was only in it because Higgs is his father. He hated the business and is probably in another state by now,”  Nines felt a pain in his chest, “Frankly, Gavin, I’m quite hurt that you think I would be hiding something. I’ve been nothing but cooperative since day one, I’ve helped you catch all of my friends, I’ve been honest and told you whatever you wanted to know and yet you still don’t trust me? What, because I’m a dangerous criminal? I thought we’ve gotten past that at this point. I’ve betrayed the people who trusted me most  _ for y- _ ” He stopped. He looked at Gavin’s eyes and the hint of worry that seemed to be in his frown. Nines felt his face heat up and looked away, “I thought you believed me when I told you I’ve turned a new leaf... I’m trying to get better,” 

 

“I-” Gavin started, “I want to believe you, I really do. I just... have to ask. All of us are still confused about your motives,” 

 

Nines went inside his mind and flipped his feelings off. He was getting to attached. “My motives are simple, Detective. I don’t want to go to jail. That’s all. Can we be done now?” 

 

Gavin gave him a worried look that made his heart clench. “Sure, that’s all we really need” He walked Nines back to his cell in silence. 

  
  


When Nines got back into his glass sanctuary, he sat down and blinked away a few tears. He wasn’t sure why he was so upset, all of it was a lie of course. He was protecting someone. Himself. Once he was free he was going to take Higgs place, that had been the plan all along. He wasn’t sure why his throat was so tight, or why his stomach dropped at the idea of what had been his dream for so long coming true. 

 

No. He did know. It was all because of that stupid detective. His dumb snort and messy hair and the small scar on his nose. Connor was right, Nines did bottle up his feelings, and he was tired of it. After so long he finally gave himself time to think about how he felt. Nines sat up for the rest of the day and meditated on his life. What did he really have for himself out there? Could he really escape the only life he had ever known? Connor did, but Connor had always been more stubborn and resilient than himself. He stayed like this, thinking on his bed until he was disturbed late in the afternoon by a sharp knock on the glass. 

  
  


“Why did you tell them Ralph? What are you planning?” Connor stood on the other side with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed in disappointment. Nines stood up, he fought off the instinctual urge to be an asshole to his brother with all his might. 

 

“Ralph is a good dude, it’s nothing personal, he’s just the only other supplier nearby,” Nines shrugged. 

 

“Why are you protecting Daniel?” Connor fumed. 

 

Nines signed, not having the energy to fight back, “Daniel is a dick at times, and I’m currently having second thoughts about him but-... he is keeping someone safe for me and I don’t want to put them at risk,” 

 

“You sure it’s not so you can work with him when you are out?” Connor accused. 

 

“That was the plan originally, but now I’m not sure I want to work with him… or in the business at all,” He confessed, the sentence getting progressively quieter. It was painful to admit to himself, and twice as hard to say it out loud. He was a tad disappointed in himself, he was really thinking about throwing away everything he had ever known all for a cute boy. Though, isn’t that what he had been doing all along? He betrayed his friends, ratted out his co-workers and buyers, things he had been taught all his life never to do, all for Gavin. He told himself it was all for the job, so that he could be in charge and take what was rightfully his. And for a while, that may have been the truth, but it all started because of Gavin. He wondered why he didn’t see it sooner. 

 

Connor was quiet for a moment.“How can I trust you anymore? How do I know that this isn’t you covering up your tracks from last time?” 

 

“I understand if you never me again, you don’t have to,” Nines paused, “... I wanted to say thanks, by the way,” Connor gave him a confused look. 

 

“For what?” 

 

“For not telling Gavin… it means a lot to me,” 

 

Connor stared at his brother, trying to spot any signs of deception, no doubt. But there weren’t any. Nines was falling fast for Gavin Reed and Connor was the only person on earth he trusted enough to even hint this to. 

 

Connor sighed and finally dropped the tough act. “They found Ralph on the database and are planning to arrest him tomorrow,” Nines shrugged at this. “... Fowler decided that I am too invested in this case after all, so Hank and I have been assigned a new case starting tomorrow. This is probably the last conversation we’ll be able to have without five other officers around us listening,” The older brother informed. 

 

“Oh,” Was all Nines could say. 

 

“I just thought I should tell you,” Connor went to walk away but stopped, “And Nines, whatever you’re planning, even if I don’t agree with it- just be careful, okay? You’re the only family I’ve got left,” and then he turned and walked off. 

 

Nines returned to his bed and continued his contemplation. “What would I even do?” He whispered to himself. He thought about the different options. He wasn’t good enough at science to be a doctor like in his fantasy, and he didn’t want to be a mechanic or something. Who would even hire an ex-drug dealer? He thought about Gavin… 

“Well,” He chuckled, “Who knows. I might make a good detective,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I am so sorry for taking such a long break! At first, my account wasn't working and then I just got lazy. But I am back and here to stay! If all goes according to plan there will only be three or four more chapters left!! This one was just to ease me back into the groove of things and sorry if it's a bit slow but within the next few chapters a LOT is going to happen. :3. 
> 
> I tried taking what some of the comments said and using them when writing this, sorry for not responding to all the comments, I usually like to, but like I said my account was acting weird for a while and by the time I got it fixed it would have been weird to respond to the comments so late lol. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this short but emotional chapter and stay for the last few chapters!!! Have a wonderful day and hopefully I'll see you next week!


	12. Sweet Ignorance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some violence at the end! It's not super graphic but it's still there so be warned.

Over the next few days, Nines sat in his cell and counted the tiles on the floor. He heard the occasional commotion in the precinct, then quiet, then commotion again. He found himself thinking about Gavin a lot, about where he is and why he hasn’t come to talk. Of course, the last time they had a conversation didn’t go too well and he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that Gavin might be mad at him, but it seemed unlikely since they had argued several times in the past and it always blew over fairly quickly. He sat in his cell for two whole days, only talking to Tina twice a day when she brought him some food. It was almost noon on the third day when he heard loud cheering from the bullpen. He sat up, trying to focus on what was being said. He often wished he could see out into the office area, it wouldn’t change much, he would just like to see people. As he sat in the tiny prison for days at a time he began wondering about the mental toll it would have on him, seeing as it was never meant to hold someone this long. 

 

His thoughts were interrupted by Gavin sliding into view and tapping on the glass excitedly. He turned and looked at the detective with confusion. 

 

“We got him!” Gav celebrated, “We caught Ralph,” 

 

“You came to brag about arresting my friend?” Nines deadpanned, he was half-joking but he didn’t want Gavin to know that. 

 

The man on the other side of the glass laughed nervously, “I know this has all been really hard for you, but this is great news. Now that we’ve caught the boss and the supplier we are basically done with this case. We just gotta keep an eye out for a few weeks and then we will be able to move on with our lives,” 

 

“Oh,” Was all Nines could get out. He knew this would happen eventually. They wouldn’t need him anymore and send him away. Before he would have been excited, it would have meant that he could escape and take over the business, but now he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Not like he had much of a choice, prison seemed like the only viable option. 

 

He could see Gavin freeze from his periphery, but he didn’t have the strength to look him in the eyes. He could almost  _ feel  _ Gavin thinking. Finally, Gavin said, “I’ll be right back,” and disappeared into the non-existence of outside the cell. 

 

Nines felt anxious. He used to hate being alone, and now for three days he had been forced to sit in a small room with his only company being his worst enemy- silence. His thoughts never used to be so turbulent, his heart never used to hurt so bad. He wanted to blame Gavin, but he knew it had nothing to do with the man. He didn’t want to think anymore, so he counted the tiles. For about 45 minutes all he did was count, he began wondering if Gavin really was going to come back or not, he tried pretending he didn’t care and went back to counting. 

 

He was well into the three hundred when the detective did come back. He stopped and looked at him, he had never seen Gavin so smiley before. 

 

“Well?” Nines feigned irritation, though he couldn’t deny his curiosity over what had Gavin so excited.

 

“I talked to Fowler,” explained Gavin, “ after careful consideration, a few strict rules, and a blood oath, he has decided that since you have been so cooperative and helped us so much…” he paused for dramatic effect, “you are allowed to go on a little ‘field trip’ as he put it,” 

 

Nines sat up, “I’ll get to go out?” 

 

“You won’t be able to go far, you’ll have to wear the ankle tracker and I’ll be with you the whole time but yes, he said you can go out,” Gavin assured. 

 

“Anything to get out of this cell. I’m so tired of this fucking cell it feels like The Shining in here,” 

 

Gavin laughed at the criminal's dramatics, “This will probably be good for you, then. I have a few things to finish up then we can go,”  

 

Nines nodded and Gavin ran off. He sat and waited for a few hours, thinking about where they would go and what they’d do. He was excited to just go outside. 

 

Gavin returned and they got the tracker on Nines and sat down with Fowler to go over a few rules. The whole thing was going against a lot of protocol, but Fowler said since Nines had done so much for them, it was the least they could do. They got everything settled by around 6 PM, and on their way out Fowler jokingly said to Gavin, “I expect him back by eleven, you hear,” to which the detective chuckled with an eye roll and left. 

  
  


They were only allowed to go a certain distance from the police station, but Gavin didn’t seem to care about that they walked a few blocks to get to the center of town. Nines leg had healed a lot since it had been shot, but he still had a small limp so they couldn’t walk very fast. 

 

“So, do you have any requests?” Gavin elbowed Nines playfully as they strode down the sidewalks. Nines was staring up at the sky, the sun was setting so the orange was bouncing off the windows of the stores they passed. The street lights above had just flickered on and cars wooshed pass them occasionally. Nines looked down at the shorter man walking next to him, “Not really. I’m happy just to be out,” 

 

“Well that’s good, cause I have an idea,” Boasted Gavin. 

 

“Oh, really? That might be a first,” Nines teased but Gavin ignored the remark. 

 

Gavin continued “What are your thoughts on horror movies?” 

 

Nines thought for a second, “I guess I’ve always liked them. I couldn’t watch many of them when I was younger though because of Connor,” 

 

“Well there’s a new one out right now that seems pretty good, if ya wanna go see it,” Gavin suggested. 

 

“Detective,” Nines smiled slyly, “Going to see a movie together? That sounds an awful lot like a date,” 

 

“You’re just now figuring that out? For a criminal, you’re pretty dense,” 

 

Nines laughed, “Sure, a movie sounds nice,”. Gavin directed them to make a few turns to get to the theatre. Gavin paid for their tickets and got them some popcorn to share. It all felt so domestic and normal, for once Nines didn’t feel on edge or paranoid. All his life Nines was taught to be cautious and trust no one, which was doubled with his anxiety.  With Gavin, he felt safe- which was pretty ironic all things considered- and he let his guard down, something that all his life he had never been able to do. 

 

They got there pretty early so they chatted while the ads played on the big screen. They talked about their favorite horror movies. Nines mentioned his favorite as a child had a giant spider that destroyed a city, Gavin brought up the Jigsaw movies and they both started ranting. 

 

“I watched the series because I liked the mystery. After the fifth movie it kind of lost me though,” Gavin shared. 

 

Nines nodded, “I liked the different traps, they were all so gross but cool, you know,” The lights faded darker and they quieted down as the movie started. 

 

The movie was more of a thriller with a few jump scares, it was set in a post-apocalyptic world and the plot kind of confused Nines but he enjoyed it nonetheless. Nines would flinch a little during the scares and he’d hear Gavin at his side laughing. At the end there was a big twist where the main character was the villain all along, it really didn’t make sense but he decided that it wasn’t meant to be thought about too deeply. It ended on a cliffhanger and dramatic music played as the credits began to roll. The duo picked up their trash and headed out while discussing the movie. 

 

“It was pretty good,” Gavin stated, “but quality in horror movies have gone down over the past decade. There just aren't good ideas anymore,” 

 

Nines hummed, “That’s why I like the older ones,” 

Gavin laughed, “Are you some kind of movie snob? Every movie you’ve ever mentioned to me is from, like, way before our time,” 

 

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Reed,” Nines chided, “Labyrinth is  _ not  _ before our time, it’s a classic,” 

 

Gavin laughed and led them down a few streets. It was still pretty early in the night so Nines asked, “Where are we heading?” 

 

“There aren’t any good restaurants around here,” Gavin explained, “But there’s a nice food truck that has waffle burgers and it’s amazing,” 

 

Nines face contorted in shock, “The fuck is a waffle burger?” 

 

“It’s a burger with waffles instead of buns. It’s heavenly,” Gavin assured. 

 

Nines wasn’t too convinced but he decided he’d give it a try. They walked another block in silence then finally rounded a corner to an area where several food trucks were parked around a water fountain. Some of them were closed but there were a few still running and a couple even had a line, including the truck Gavin mentioned. The line wasn’t very long so they waited. 

 

“I know it’s nothing fancy,” Gavin said, looking a little sheepish, “but I’ve been here a lot and it’s good,” It was night now, and the only light was coming from the moon, the inside of the food trucks, and a few artificial street lamps, but it was still enough to see a small blush on Gavin’s cheeks. Nine’s wasn’t sure what to do. Obviously, they both liked each other, the flirting had been pretty apparent, but he wasn’t sure it would ever work. Since they were a criminal and a police officer, after all. Nines thought about his life, he had always been taught to live in the present and take risks, since no day was guaranteed. With Gavin he felt safe, he felt normal. He wasn’t looking behind them in fear, or watching for suspicious figures. He was comfortable and at peace. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like that. He had had a few flings in the past between work, but he always knew it wouldn't last and would leave them within a week. With Gavin, he wanted it to last. He was thinking about giving up everything he had ever known, and all for this dumb, asshole cop. He shook his head, there must be something wrong with him. Finally, he made a decision. 

 

He grabbed Gavin’s hand and held by their sides, “It’s great,” He smiled. Gavin looked a little surprised for a moment, then smiled back. It was their turn in line and Gavin ordered for the two of them and didn’t let go of Nines hand until he had to grab their food. They balanced their drinks and burgers in their hands and went to sit down at a nearby bench. When they set everything down Nines finally got a good look at the amalgamation of a burger. He stared at it in horror and confusion. 

 

“Who in their right mind would ruin a perfectly good burger like this?” He remarked, mainly to himself. 

 

Gavin laughed, “Don’t be an ass. Try it,” Nines rolled his eyes and finally took a bite.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it at first. It was just as greasy and cheesy as a burger, but where there would usually be buns, there were waffles that lacked their usual syrup. It was only after a second did the two flavors come together and actually taste really good. 

 

“Damnit,” Nines whispered after he swallowed. Gavin gave him a look, “It’s really good,” He stated in defeat, to which Gavin busted out laughing. 

 

After that they ate in silence, sharing their fries, Nines occasionally looked up at the starless sky, and felt the chilly breeze against his skin. Nines ate the whole burger and some fries and by the time he was finished he felt completely full. When they were both done they threw away their paper plates and napkins and started heading back to the precinct which was several miles away. All this walking was doing quite the deal on Nine’s bad leg and he could already tell it was going to hurt like a bitch the next day. 

 

While walking they chatted mindlessly. They both felt tired and heavy from a combination of eating and the late hour. Nines was sure it was probably a little past eleven at this point, despite the captain's request. At some point, their hands brushed and this time Gavin made no hesitation to reach and intertwine their fingers while Nines was talking. Nines felt his cheeks heat up,  it caught him off guard so he stuttered a little in the middle of his sentence. He felt his heart flutter in his chest and he felt like a goddamn school girl. He liked Gavin no doubt but a part of him wanted to beat him up for making the stone cold criminal feel this way. 

 

They had stopped talking and fell into a comfortable silence. Comfortable. That word used to never describe Nine’s life, but now- with Gavin- it could. He didn’t want to think about the future, about what might happen the next day. Realistically he knew he would probably get sent away to some prison a few cities over. Due to his intense work with the drug dealing he most likely wouldn’t get any years off his time. He’d live in a barred room with two other people for maybe thirty years and Gavin would forget he ever existed. His heart sunk in his chest at that thought. Maybe escaping still was an option. He’d escape, take control of his father business and secretly meet Gavin every few weeks- if Gavin didn’t hate him. That made his chest ache too. No matter what the future looked grim. So he went back to doing what he was used to; living in the moment and pretending the future didn’t exist. He focused on the chill of the breeze, the sting in his leg with every step, and the feeling of Gavin’s shoulder touch his as they walked, the hum of a car driving not far behind them. 

 

“Hey,” Gavin’s ruff voice sounded impossible. Everything about the night felt so surreal to the ex-prisoner. “You alright? You look upset,” 

 

Nines smiled and shook his head, “I’m not upset,” He faltered and his smile dropped. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever see Gavin again in a few days, so he decided he had nothing to lose, “Well, I do have a question,” 

 

“Yeah?” Gavin tilted his head to look up at Nines. Nines took a breath and asked, 

 

“When I go to jail, like for good. Will you remember me?” He felt tense while waiting for the answer. Nines looked away from Gavin so he couldn’t see his face, but there was a long pause that made him increasingly anxious with every second. 

 

Finally, Gavin responded, “Asshole,” Nines turned back in confusion, though, Gavin didn’t sound angry in the slightest. “You really think I’m just going to ignore you when this is over? Like you’ll get sent away and I’d never see you ever again? What kind of jerk do you think I am? If it hasn’t been obvious before, Nines, I really fucking like you. I know it’s sort of unconventional, but I want to make this work. I’m not going to leave you. I promise,” 

 

Nines couldn’t stop the giddy smile from forming on his lips, Gavin smiled back. At some point, they had quit walking and were stopped on the sidewalk near a little alleyway and a closed store up ahead of them. No one was around save for a few harmless cars.  Nines was looking at Gavins warm, brown eyes that twinkled from the flickering street light, and Gavin was doing the same until his eyes drifted to Nine’s lips. Nines leaned in a little and Gavin mirrored. Nines closed his eyes. Everything felt so right, Gavin’s hand in his, the warmth of his breath. They were centimeters away from each other.  They were so caught up they didn’t notice the van following them. It was only when Nines heard the screeching of tires behind them did he know something was wrong. 

  
  


They separated and saw a white car skid to a halt beside them. About five men in dark clothes and black masks hopped out of the sliding doors. It all happened so fast. Nines couldn’t get a good look at them, but based on their movements and height they all seemed young and ill-trained. Regardless of how well they fought, it was five of them against Gavin and him. 

 

They shoved Gavin to the ground then grabbed Nines, it was clear right away who they were after, but Nines wasn’t going down without a fight. One of the men grabbed his upper arm, Nines twisted, making the man lose his grip then kicked him in the knee while he was off guard. Two more were about to tackle him but Gavin kicked out his leg while on the ground and was able to trip one of them. Gavin shot up and delivered a swift punch to the second. 

 

“ ‘the fuck are these guys?” He called out to Nines, who was several feet away from him, being blocked by two of the masked men. 

 

“I’ve got no clue. Probably-” he wasn’t able to finish as one of them went in for a punch. He was able to dodge the first one, but then the man kneed him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. Nines couldn’t keep his balance and he fell to the ground, his hands stung as they slid across the concrete. He looked up and saw three of the men coming toward him. Then two of them went down and Gavin was standing, out of breath, behind them. The third turned to look at Gavin, probably sensing now that he was going to be more trouble than they anticipated. The two of them went at it, but Nines didn’t get to see much because the other three surrounded him. Nines got up. He was silently thanking his father for making him take karate when he was younger. 

 

The four of them went to grab Nines again, trying to get him in the car. He punched one then attempted to use his elbow to push another one back. He was doing good, but he was outnumbered. He got two of them to step back, and he saw Gavin leave the one he was fighting to come over and help him. 

 

Gavin gave a few quick punches. Turned, kicked. Clearly, stuff he had been trained to do. Suddenly, Nines became less of a target. Two were left to keep Nines occupied while the other three started attacking Gavin. Nines went to shove past the two to get to Gavin, but these guys had more of a wrestling approach. They tackled Nines and slammed him on the ground. He landed on his bad leg and let out a yell in pain. 

 

As he turned and wrestled with the men on top of him he heard a gruff and unfamiliar voice call out from the van, “You’re taking too long! Just hurry up and grab one of them. Here-” He couldn’t see, but he heard what sounded like a car door opening, then someone grabbing something. The adrenaline was kicking in more than ever, he shoved the man off him and sat up just in time to see two men holding Gavin in place, and the third walking over with a baseball bat. 

 

“No!” he tried to stand up but the pain of his leg surprised him and he fell back down. He heard a horrible wack sound and the sound of Gavin grunting in pain. The two men who were previously occupied with Nines ran over to help get Gavin in the van. He had to do something. 

 

He heard them hit Gavin with the bat a few more times, and finally, he regained his strength and stood up. As soon as he looked up he regretted it. Gavin had a large gash on his forehead with blood covering half his face. He had bruises and was doubled over, blood and spit dripped onto the sidewalk below. The men were holding him by his arms and forcing him in the direction of the van. Eventually, he looked up and locked eyes with Nines. 

 

“Run,” he whispered. Nines couldn’t hear him, but he understood. He didn’t move, he felt frozen. Gavin struggled against his captors, “Nines, Run!” he said again, louder this time. Nines wanted to argue like he usually would with Gavin, but there was no time, and a reasonable part of his brain told him that if they were both captured it wouldn’t do any good. 

 

He started backing up slowly, not wanting to take his eyes off Gavin. Finally, he did as he was told, he turned around and ran as fast as he could with his one good leg. Behind him he heard a car door slam shut, the screeching of tires, then the car driving off into the distance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I may have broken a record for the longest time without updating. Whoopsie. I went on vacation, but other than that I have no excuses besides my own lazy-ness. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. I have written fight scenes before and I am extremely aware of how bad this fight scene is, but I figured the fight wasn't super important it was what happened that was important.   
> My computer or whatever is still acting weird and won't let me respond to comments, but do know that I read all of them and LOVE them all so much!! 
> 
> For anyone who is interested I drew a little bit of art for this fic on instagram account and plan on drawing some more. My insta is @minimart007 and if any of you have some art to share you could DM me :D if you want to that is. 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write even if it isn't one of the best. We are reaching the end of this story and I am very excited!!! Please tell me what you thought in the comments! I super appreciate all the kudos and comments I've received so far, each one has brightened my day. 
> 
>  
> 
> Have a wonderful week and I will try to update within the next two weeks! 
> 
> ~Star


	13. Painful Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for LOTS of cursing. Not a lot of violence but like... a little. So be careful.

It took Nines an unfortunately long time to return to the precinct. He had limped about a mile along the sidewalks before a woman in a small car passed and noticed his injuries. She slowed down and offered him a ride.  He would have worried about the dangers of hitchhiking but at the time all he cared about was getting to the police station . He reminded himself that _she_ was the one who was picking up a criminal. By car, it only took a few minutes to arrive. The woman hadn’t even come to a complete stop before Nines was saying a rushed “thank you” and hurrying to the front doors. 

It was late, almost one in the morning, but he was so full of adrenaline that he didn’t notice the surplus of officers. When he burst open the doors the first person he saw was Connor who had worry painting his features. Connor’s eyes drifted to the blood on Nine’s face and shirt.  Something about his brothers' demeanor filled him with dread, though he wasn't sure why .  He's known Connor long enough to be able to know exactly what is going on in his head: sadness, worry, fear. All understandable feelings when a bloodied man of any kind runs into a police station- but there was something that  wasn't  there that concerned him.

“Where’s Gavin?” Connor asked with a trembling voice that expressed that he didn’t really want to know the answer. Oh. Nines understood. What was missing from his brother’s reaction was shock. 

Nines wanted to tell him, he wanted to scream and cry, but when he opened his mouth to speak he found that he was unable. He coughed and wheezed, he felt grimy with sweat and blood. Connor motioned something to another officer then ran over to help Nines. 

“You need to sit down you’re injured,” he instructed in that voice that always aggravated Nines. The voice of “I know what I’m talking about so listen to me”.  It was most likely subconscious, but how calm Connor was pretending to be only worsened his headache . 

He shoved Connor off, “I’m not going to sit down! Gavin was- he was… taken. Abducted by these men-” He wanted to pace but his leg could hardly withstand his weight so he leaned against a desk instead. 

“Nines, you’re going to want to sit down,” he paused and made an almost pained expression, “We tried calling Gavin. Several times in fact. When he wouldn’t answer we thought he was busy. We didn't want to rush into something drastic but it got later and you hadn’t come back. We were minutes away from sending a search party,”

“Get to the point,” Nines snapped. 

“It’s Higgs. He escaped from prison about an hour after you two left. We tried getting in contact with you two, we wanted to warn you, or get you to come back but-"

The news hit him like a blow to the gut and he gave in and sat down on a nearby chair. “Shit,” he hissed. He put his face in his hands attempting with little success to clear his frantic thoughts. “Shit, shit, shit,” It was his fault Gavin got taken. They were after him. If something happens- “Shit,” His face was hot and his throat was tight but he was  not  going to cry there, there wasn’t time. He took several long, deep breaths. When he felt he was in a better place he sat back up and was about to speak but Connor stopped him before he could get out a word.

“I know you want to save Gavin. Fowler's  been informed on the situation and there's a team making a plan,” He explained. 

“Screw that I should be apart of this ‘team making a plan ’  I can’t sit by and let-” 

Connor held up a hand like he was a child who talked back, “You will be able to help, but not now. We need to take care of your injuries first. You won’t be able to help get him back if you can't walk,”

Nines looked down at his stained clothes and scraped hands. He knew Con was right.  His stomach twisted in knots at the idea of sitting around doing nothing while Gavin was who-knows-where with people who want him dead . 

“The sooner you go to the doctors the sooner you’ll be able to help,” Connor continued treating Nines like a frightened child . Nines was sure he didn't mean to, he was trying to help, but his tone was like nails against a chalkboard to Nine's already horrid mood. 

“Shut up, asshole, and help me there,” Barked Nines. Connor ignored the insult and did as told, helping Nines to his feet and leading him to the nursing unit.

 

 

 

  Luckily, the police were proficient in the art of multitasking.  A woman bandaged and pored painful liquids on his wounds while three police officers (including Connor) sat around and asked him questions . They were hoping to conduct a rescue mission by the next day but they needed information first. 

“Are there any places he might’ve taken him. Any secret hideaways or warehouses,” The officer who he knew as Tina Chen asked. He sat there pondering over the many different options for a few minutes. They waited as he went through the list in his head. The nurse pulled extra tight on the bandages causing him to wince and she shot him an apologetic look. After that, she must have been done because she packed up her supplies and moved on to the next person.

Finally, he spoke, “There are lots of places he  could  be. Higgs has a vast network and plenty of hiding spots in case anything goes wrong… but he’s an emotional man. In a time of crisis he would rather be somewhere he  felt  safe even if he wasn’t actually safe,” Officer Chen made notes. He thought some more out loud, “They were after me, but they got Gavin instead.  Higgs will still want to see me so most likely he’ll go-” his mind began connecting the dots, and the dots were forming a picture he did not want to see . “Shit,” he whispered to himself. 

Right when he had the realization another frantic officer barged in. His eyes instantly locked onto Nines, “Fowler is on the phone with Higgs. He wants to talk to you,” 

“Shit,” 

\- - -

Despite the pain, Nines didn’t think even an act of God could have prevented him from running to Fowler's office. Connor came rushing in behind him. Fowler turned and said “He’s here” into the phone, Nines felt his blood run cold. It looked like Fowler wanted to tell him something but there was no time, instead, he handed over the phone. When reaching out to take it he felt like he was being given a gun, but he reached on. His bones felt like metal as he lifted his arm to bring the phone to his ear. 

“Higgs,” Was all he could get out. His throat felt tight and his voice hoarse. 

“Hello there, Nines,” Higgs familiar voice was twice as eerie due to how pleased he sounded. When Nines heard muffled screaming in the background his energy returned to him. 

“Where the fuck is Gavin,” He spat out, though he was sure he already knew. 

“Calm down, no need to get dramatic. I’ll  happily tell you the location of both me and your friend as long as  _ you  _ are the one to come get him. It’s been a while, Nines, all I want to do is chat,” Higgs voice was almost a purr, calm and controlling like always.  His voice sounded like the false sympathy a puppet master tells his puppet before cutting its strings . Nines was talking on some type of police phone and though it wasn't on speaker it was projecting loud enough for the others to hear. He was certain it was recording the conversation, only because of what he had seen on TV. He thought he saw Fowler either shaking his head or trying to give him some sort of advice at his periphery but he didn’t look up to see it. 

“Alright, yeah, fine I’ll come,” Nines agreed, “ Just promise you won't hurt Gavin,” 

“Oh, so Gavin is his name,” The muffled screaming was louder this time as if he moved closer. He could imagine Higgs taking slow and graceful steps over to his capture while on the phone with the people who could save him and smiling wickedly. The voice sounded deep and panicked. Through some detective work, he could deduce the noises were coming from Gavin. “You know, my boys told me about the whole ordeal. I wasn’t aware that convicted criminals  were allowed to go on  _ dates _ ,” 

“Shut up, Higgs. Tell me where you are and I'll come,” Nines hated small talk, especially small talk when someone’s life was at stake. Some of his old coworkers liked to chat with people before they killed them.  Making casual conversation with the weight of death hanging over them seemed to intimidate most people . Like a lion playing with its prey before devouring it, they got some sick pleasure from it. It felt too Pulp Fiction-y to him. When he was in charge of deals he’d go there, give the blunt truth, rough some people up if necessary, then leave. He didn’t care enough to make them scared shitless, though he knew he could if it was needed. 

Higgs picked up on the mood and dropped the act, “Alright,” now he sounded stone-cold, “I’ll tell you where we are but there are some conditions . Tomorrow at 10 you will come here  _** alone  ** _ and completely unarmed. If I see a weapon or have any  indication that you brought someone with you I won't hesitate to shoot him,”

Finally, Nines looked up to Fowler and Connor for advice. Fowler whispered, “Tell him whatever he wants to hear. We have ways of dealing with this,” Nines nodded. 

“Okay. I’ll come alone and unarmed. You know I don’t like guns anyway,” He responded through the phone. 

 

Higgs seemed satisfied with this answer,  “Oh, and before I go I thought you’d like an update, you know since you've been so...  _ busy _ lately... Corrine died-,” His voice was so nonchalant it felt more like he was discussing the weather than his dead wife. It felt surreal at first. Corrine had been sick for so long he had a hard time believing she was actually gone. The truth hit him like a bag of bricks, then another truth hit him: they  were screwed .

 

“-I got the call while I was in prison. I wasn’t even able to be there with her when she went,” he paused and Nines thought he might hang up then and there. After a minute of silence and a sniff, he continued, “Also, Jamie is here with me. It wasn’t very smart where you were keeping him hidden, in all honesty, it was the first place I checked. He’s here now helping me keep an eye on Mr. Gavin,”

Nines whispered, “Shit,” away from the receiver so Higgs couldn’t hear. 

“We’re at my house. The place that started it all, isn't that poetic? You know the address, I'll see you here, tomorrow at 10 am. Have a nice night, sleep well and tell your brother I say hi,” There was a click and silence fell upon the other end. 

Nines threw the phone down on the table with a loud thud and fell into the chair facing the desk. His hands pulled at his hair in stress, his rage, and his eyes burned. It all felt so hopeless. He found the first person that's ever made him feel safe and wanted and he had to go and fuck it up. If something happened to Gavin and it was his fault he wasn't sure how he'd be able to live with himself. 

Connor stood over him with a hand on his shoulder and a concerned look. His brother had always been better at staying calm under pressure, it annoyed him to no end, though, he may just need someone to be angry at. Fowler sat at the desk in front of him.

“We have ways of analyzing this and calculating the best course of action,” The captain explained . 

“Analyzing? I can do all the analyzing you need right now. His wife died. The closest thing he had to a conscience is gone, when he said he won’t hesitate to shoot Gavin he means it. Corrine was his everything and now that she’s gone- ... shit,” He paused to breathe and blink back some more tears, “He has nothing to lose. There’s no predicting what he will do,” 

“Try,” Fowler stated while looking him in the eyes. Nines made a face of confusion. “You know him better than anyone here. What do you think he will do when you get there,” 

The truth of it was Nines knew almost exactly what Higgs will do. Though he is an evil bastard, he doesn’t like killing unless he has a reason or something to gain from it.  If Nines goes there unarmed and alone he should be able to convince Higgs to let Gavin go, and after that Gavin would be the one who needed convincing .  He would tell him he had everything under control and that when everything was over they would go on an official, and  _legal_ ,  date .  Hopefully, Gavin would believe him and leave and Higgs and Nines would be alone. Higgs will monologue about his wife and his unbearable grief for quite some time before shooting Nines. Nines decided that, while there, he’ll try to get Jamie out, the kid didn't deserve this situation. Nines doesn't mind the thought of dying, so long as Gavin is safe. 

“Higgs isn't a revengeful person,” The lie came out smooth as butter. He used to have to do this every day for work, “He’ll let Gavin go after I show up, then he’ll want to talk to me. While he’s talking he gets emotional. Distracted. Perfect time to ambush him,” The rest was  technically true. 

“You’re not going in unarmed. You’ll need protection,” Stated Connor from his side. 

“Fuck that. Were you even listening? If he has any reason to suspect me he  will  kill Gavin.  I’m not risking that,” Nines wanted  desperately to stand up in anger, make a scene and throw a fit, but his leg ached even while sitting . 

“And I’m not risking  _you_.  How do we know he won’t shoot you the moment he sees you?” Connor was now speaking more towards Fowler than him, trying to get his help.

“He won’t. I know him. He likes attention.  He won’t  just shoot without talking, trust me, he never stops talking,” Nines was  practically pleading to Fowler . If he brought a gun he would put  all of them at more of a risk.  Higgs was a time bomb and he was not going to be the one to force its detonation and watch someone he cared about get hurt in the process . 

Fowler looked between the two of them and thought with a hum while Nines sat at the edge of his seat, anticipating his answer. It felt like hours before he responded, though it was likely only a few minutes. 

“You’re bringing a gun,” He decided. 

“Fucking, shit!” Nines exclaimed, he felt his brother let out a sigh of relief, which made him want to punch him even more. 

“Come on,” Fowler stood up from his desk and made his way out the glass office, “We have planning to do,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I had fun with this one. When Nines is in times of crisis his one brain cell reduces his vocabulary to exclusively the word "Shit". 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! If so please leave kudos and comments they always brighten my day :D. We are reaching the end of this wild journey of a fic and I am very excited. I hope you all stay around to the end to find out what happens with Gavin :O. Also if you have friends who you think would like this fic tell them about it, that'd be super appreciated. Anyway, I think that's all. Everyone have a wonderful day, and wonderful EVERY day until the next time I post (which will hopefully be quicker). 
> 
> You all are lovely!
> 
> ~Star


End file.
